GM crops proposal voted down by European Parliament

MEPs have rejected proposals that would allow EU member states to control or restrict the use of genetically-modified food or feed in their territory, in a significant setback for the European Commission’s plans to legislate for GM crops. The European Parliament’s Environment and Public Health Committee voted against the proposal by 47 to three, with five abstentions, in a vote on Tuesday in Brussels.

The issue of genetically-modified crops is highly divisive within the EU. While GM food and feed are widely used in the US and Asia, only one genetically-modified crop is authorised for cultivation in the EU, though a number of GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) have been authorised for consumption, mainly in animal feed.

Germany and France are among the countries most opposed. While no commercial cultivation of GM crops takes place in Ireland, the Irish Farmers Association has said it supports biotechnology that has proven to be scientifically sound.

In March, the commission paved the way for new GMO food and feed to be approved, including giving the right to individual countries to choose to opt in to the proposal if they so chose. But campaigners such as Greenpeace say that opt-outs are not legally sound.

On Tuesday morning the European Parliament environment committee rejected the proposal, amid concerns from some that the European Commission's authorisation process for GM foods is flawed as well as worries about its impact on the single market.

Half-baked

Irish MEP

Lynn Boylan

, who sits on the committee, welcomed the outcome of the vote, describing the European Commission’s proposal as “half-baked”. “The citizens of Europe have serious and just concerns regarding the use of GMOs and they must be addressed,” she said.

Committee member Mairéad McGuinness also welcomed the decision, which is expected to be ratified at the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg later this month.

“To allow one member state to ban the use of animal feed containing GM ingredients in their territory would disadvantage farmers and seriously disrupt the livestock sector,” she said, adding that the practical implications of the proposal had not been thought through. The recognition that the EU needs to import protein, which is mainly GM soya, for animal feed was also welcome, she said.

A spokesman for the European Commission said the EU's executive arm noted the decision, but would not be commenting further until the full vote in Strasbourg in late October.

Bart Staes of the Green group in the European Parliament called on the European Commission to come forward with a new proposal on genetically-modified products. "We cannot persist with the current situation by which authorisations proceed in spite of flawed risk assessments and the consistent opposition of a majority of EU governments and, importantly, a clear majority of EU citizens," he said.

Separately, agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan announced a new €111 million promotional campaign to help promote EU agri-food products. Under the programme the commission is to target non-EU countries deemed to have the highest potential for growth, with particular focus on the dairy and pig sectors. The information campaign will also enhance EU consumers' awareness of the merits of European agricultural products.