Germany
April 23, 2009Quelle:
GMO Compass
The
American agricultural company Monsanto has filed a suit against
the cultivation ban for the GM maize MON810. The ban was
declared by Ilse Aigner, Minister for Agriculture, whose CSU
party apparently now also advocates the prohibition of field
trials with genetically modified potatoes.
As stated
by a spokesperson for Monsanto, the concern already has
submitted a complaint to the administrative court in
Braunschweig. The concern expects a decision by mid-May, at
which point the sowing of maize still would be possible.
Monsanto stated the following: “We are convinced that the
reasons that have led to the decision by Minister Aigner are not
suitable to cast doubt upon the safety of the product.”
Meanwhile,
political pressure appears to be increasing in the CSU on
Minister Aigner to declare further prohibitions for genetically
modified plants. As reported by the AFP news agency, the
Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer has called for a ban on the
planting of the Amflora potato developed by BASF. This potato
displays a modified starch composition and is used exclusively
for the delivery of industrial starch. Its cultivation in the EU
has not been allowed to date but, after a renewed safety
assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), EU
Member States are expected shortly to vote on its approval.
In recent
years, large-scale field trials of Amflora have been conducted
in several federal states in Germany. These trials were
authorised according to the regulations of the genetic
engineering law. This year, BASF has registered field trials on
an area of 40 hectares. It remains unclear upon which legal
basis a ban could be declared as demanded by Seehofer.
Apparently, Minister Aigner already has acknowledged that a ban
on Amflora would be significantly more difficult to effect than
was the case with MON810 maize.
On the
initiative of the Federal Minister for Research, Annette
Schavan, a 'round table' on the topic of green gene technology
will take place in Berlin on May 20th, 2009. "All affected
parties should come together, including associations, companies,
science representatives, non-governmental organisations and
churches," stated Minister Schavan during a visit to the German
Association of Farmers. The round table will serve as the
initiation of an extended process of dialogue. Minister Schavan
spoke frankly: "With regard to future technologies as well as to
green gene technology, the issues include not only questions on
research policy but also a debate on values that will have
far-reaching consequences - and I will be leading this debate."
See also on GMO-Compass:
Further information:
|
|
