Berlin, Germany
March 10, 2009
USDA/FAS GAIN report GM 9012
Report Highlights
In reaction to the
announcement of Agriculture Minister Aigner that she was
considering a cultivation ban for MON 810 corn varieties and
to the vote of Environment Minister Gabriel supporting the
cultivation bans in Austria and Hungary, the German biotech
industry, researchers and other agricultural organizations
have written public letters to the ministers with copies to
Chancellor Merkel, complaining about these positions and
statements. Other interested parties have also weighed in
publically.
German Scientists and Biotech
Industry Upset about Politicians
For the first time since the
beginning of the European debate about agricultural
biotechnology, German politicians’ decisions and statements on
the topic have brought forth strong responses and comments by
the biotech industry and by biotech researchers. The recent
announcement of German Agricultural Minister Aigner that she was
considering a cultivation ban for MON 810 corn varieties and
vote by Environment Minister Gabriel on the Austrian and
Hungarian bans as well as his publicized letter to an
anti-biotech NGO group has upset biotech researchers, the
German Biotech Industry Association
(DIB), InnoPlanta (an
agricultural organization promoting biotechnology) and the
German Plant Breeders
Association (BDP). All of these organizations have written
public letters to Ministers Gabriel and Aigner or made public
statements about the situation.
The letter of DIB to Minister Gabriel, who recently voted
against the European Commission proposal to lift the biotech
cultivation ban in Austria and Hungary, expressed strong
disappointment. The president of DIB points out that Gabriel is
using a number of false arguments for his decision to support
the Austrian and Hungarians cultivation bans. DIB in the letter
interprets Gabriel’s public explanation for his support of
Hungry and Austria as nationalist and protectionist. In the
letter, the DIB president also expressed concern that Gabriel’s
letter to NGO’s could inspire anti-biotech activists to continue
their unlawful actions against biotech farmers and researchers.
Finally, the DIB president indicated that he was concerned that
scientific evidence and recommendations no longer serve as the
basis for political decisions. DIB forwarded a copy of this
letter to Chancellor Merkel and to Research Minister Schavan. It
was also released to the press.
In another instance, an open letter of the Researchers Group
Green Genetechnology (WGG) to Agricultural Minister Aigner was
signed by more than 1400 supporters within a few days after it
appeared on the internet. The WGG letter expresses concern that
Aigner intends to ban the cultivation of approved GE corn
varieties although research has not identified any risk of these
crops. WGG expresses surprise that Aigner and other members of
her party intend to block green biotech research for personal
and party political reasons. The letter states that it is very
unfortunate that politicians ignore the results of multiyear
risk research, which had been financed by a German Government,
the same government that Aigner and Gabriel represent. The
letter says that the current statements are a fatal signal to
the internationally respected research position of Germany. The
letter also states that it is unacceptable that members of
Aigner’s party demand that further risk research on
biotechnology be restricted.
WGG demands that the German Government communicate the results
of risk research to the public to counter unsupported, emotional
and ideological concerns about the technology. Instead, the
letter contends that responsible politicians have remained quiet
or used vague excuses when research projects are damaged. This
approach, the letter states, has the effect that researchers are
seen to be the guilty ones for the destruction of their own
research projects. WGG asks that Minister Aigner not sacrifice
the great potential of this future technology to short-term
political calculation. Instead, WGG proposes an expert dialog
with the German Ministry of Agriculture so that scientific
expertise can be used for political decisions and also
communicated to the public.
The German Plant Breeders Association (BDP) has publically
stated that Minister Gabriel’s vote was based upon false
arguments. BDP qualifies Gabriel’s statements as a political
farce with the result that politicians might be deadlocked by
these positions.
InnoPlanta in its letter to Minister Aigner compares her
statements with the political approach of the former Eastern
German communist government, who told its people what is good
for them. InnoPlanta is shocked that Minister Aigner, who used
to be the CDU party speaker for research policy, is prepared to
break her oath to support the freedom for research.
While these letters and statements have been publically
released, they have not received the widespread attention that
was afforded the anti-biotech statements. While down from levels
of several weeks ago, media reports still focused on Aigner’s
statements about a potential cultivation ban and meetings of
anti-biotechnology groups |
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