Berlin, Germany
June 29, 2009
USDA/FAS GAIN report
Report highlights
Higher Administrative Court
Supports German Cultivation Ban for MON 810 Corn On May 28,
2009, also the Higher Administrative Court in Lueneburg,
Germany, decided to reject Monsanto’s appeal to lift the
cultivation ban for MON 810 corn varieties. Germany is now
the sixth EU member state banning cultivation of MON 810
corn. Already in June 1999, Austria banned import and
cultivation of MON 810 corn. In the following years Hungary,
Greece, France and Luxembourg followed the Austrian example
and banned MON 810 corn with reference to the EU safeguard
clause.
General Information:
Higher Administrative Court Supports German Cultivation Ban for
MON 810 Corn
On May 28, 2009, also the
Higher Administrative Court in Lueneburg, Germany, decided to
reject Monsanto’s appeal to lift the cultivation ban for MON 810
corn varieties. Germany is now the sixth EU member state banning
cultivation of MON 810 corn. Already in June 1999, Austria
banned import and cultivation of MON 810 corn. In the following
years Hungary, Greece, France and Luxembourg followed the
Austrian example and banned MON 810 corn with reference to the
EU safeguard clause.
On April 14, 2009, the Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture
and Consumer Protection (BMELV) Ilse Aigner instructed the
Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) to
order Monsanto to no longer market and cultivate MON 810 corn
varieties. The banning order is of temporary nature until the
European Commission finally assesses the legality of the EU
approval for MON 810 cultivation within the EU.
The Lueneburg court took a very legal technical approach to
reject the Monsanto appeal:
- The safeguard clause laid
down in the German genetech law, section 20.2 only requires
a prognosis of an abstract danger for human health or the
environment. The prognosis has to be based on new
information and scientific findings. A final evaluation of
these studies is not required.
- Since the ban is only of
temporary nature, the requirements for the prognosis are
rather low. Clearly defined and scientifically supported
dangers are not required. The national courts are not
authorized to anticipate the final decision on the European
authorities which have the competence to assess the validity
of the national bans.
- The discretion of the
national government may also include political aspects. It
is irrelevant that the technical experts of BVL did not
support the ban in the beforehand.
- In view of the exemplary
precedents in other EU member states banning MON 810
cultivation there is no reason for a deeper assessment of
the studies the decision is based on. Furthermore, these
decisions indicate that the German decision is not
arbitrary.
- Finally, the economic
interests of farmers interested in planting MON 810
varieties hold lesser weight than environment protection
aspects.
Comment: The outlook that
the national cultivation bans for MON 810 corn will be
lifted on the European level is rather bleak. The political
will to support biotech crop cultivation on German fields is
under current political conditions extremely limited. There
is currently basically only one political party, the Free
Democrats Party, a non-governing party, represented in the
German Bundestag offensively supporting biotech crop
cultivation. However, there are several individual
politicians of other political parties publically expressing
their support for biotechnology.
The main concern for German politicians is that German
companies and researchers loose interest in biotechnology
research and leave the country or give up biotech projects.
Politicians still proudly claim that German researchers are
among the group of leading researchers in plant
biotechnology. On the other side these same politicians
easily give in to populist demands to keep Germany free of
biotech crop cultivation.
Groups of leading German scientists and agriculture industry
representatives have published several memoranda during
recent months demanding freedom of research and political
support for science based decisions. Since these are only
the voices of a few hundred experts they have been
overshadowed by the loud populist demands for a biotech-free
Germany.
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