EU votes for compromise on GM crops
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INDIVIDUAL European Union nations will be able to ban cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops under a compromise deal agreed yesterday that ends years of deadlock over the barbed issue and could actually boost GM farming.
A list of GM products is awaiting EU approval and yesterday’s vote in the European Parliament opens the way for the authorities to review it.
Member states will be able to opt out of any eventual GM approvals, but campaigners said the law is not robust enough.
Some in the GM industry were also unhappy, complaining that the compromise meant countries would be able to reject GM crops for unscientific reasons.
Widely grown in the Americas and Asia, GM crops in Europe have divided opinion. Many countries, including France and Germany, oppose them, while others, like Britain, favor them.
An earlier attempt to agree a compromise on GM cultivation failed in 2012.
Yesterday’s vote is almost the final stage in the legislative process. The plan will become law once it has been signed off by member states and published officially, which is expected in the coming weeks.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, European commissioner for health and food safety, welcomed the outcome.
“The agreement meets member states’ consistent calls since 2009 to have the final say on whether or not GMOs can be cultivated on their territory,” he said.
EU authorities have approved only two GM crops for commercial cultivation so far. Of those, one was later blocked by one of the EU’s top courts, which found EU authorities had failed to follow the rules when they approved it.
Industry body EuropaBio, which represents firms such as Syngenta and Monsanto, said the compromise deal sent a negative signal to industries considering investing in Europe.
“This is a stop sign for innovation in Europe,” said Jeff Rowe, chairman of EuropaBio’s Agri-Food Council.
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