September 15, 2005
Source:
AGRA Presse / Le Figaro
Translated by Katharina Schoebi,
Checkbiotech
On July 19, the Spanish government
published a royal decree that regulated the coexistence of
genetically modified, conventional or organic crops. It marks
the desire of the Zapatero government to strictly control GM
crops in Spain, in contrast to the Aznar administration - which
was less strict, with laws comparable to the United States,
where GM crops do not have a special status.
There is good reason to bet that
French regulations will be influenced by the Spanish laws.
Actually, this is the only country in Europe that cultivates GM
crops on a large scale (80.000 hectares of GM maize in 2005),
and it is where French experts, in particular from Inra (http://w3.inra.fr/),
have studied the risk cross-contamination by GM crops for
several years. Since observing Spanish GM field trials, the
French have been constructing practical models.
Spanish regulations
To start in future, the Spanish farmer - willing to cultivate GM
crops - needs to warn the authorized authorities one month in
advance and has to specify the variety and the introduced gene
in the culture of interest. The farmer must adhere to specific
rules for the preparation of the seed, the surveillance of
fields, and the cultivation of the harvest. A security distance
of 50 meters has to be kept between the fields of GM crops and
other crops. The seeding period of the GM crops has to be
declared compared to conventional varieties in order to prevent
cross-pollination during blossoming. In addition, a buffer area
of four rows of conventional maize, that is labeled as GMO, has
to surround the GM field. In the case of maize resistant to the
leaf-folder, 20 percent of the GM parcel has to be sown by
conventional maize to hinder the development of resistance to
the insect.
Additional regulations
The farmers must participate in education programs concerning GM
cultivation. If a variety is deemed to be a source of
contamination, it could be cancelled from the national register.
Finally, the authorized persons from a region are charged with
supervising whether the measures are well met.
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