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Friday, November 02, 2007

GM Freeze Welcomes Suspension of GM Crops in France

GM Freeze has warmly welcomed the statement by French President, Nicholas
Sarkozy, that the commercial planting of GM crops in France has been
suspended.

The announcement was made at a national conference on the environment held
this week [1].

Previous refusals by French governments to approve commercial licenses for GM
herbicide tolerant oilseed rape allowed time for new evidence to emerge about
the long term harm the crop would cause to farmland wildlife [2].

Yesterday, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas announced his intention
to ban two GM maize varieties resistant to insect pest (Syngenta Bt11 maize
and Pioneers 1507 maize) because of concerns about the Bt toxins they produce
harming the non target species such as butterflies [3].

Commenting Pete Riley of GM Freeze said

"The French Government has clearly listened to concerns about the uncertainty
surrounding the health and environmental safety of GM crops and we warmly
welcome this announcement. It is another clear message to the biotech industry
that Europe will not accept poorly tested GMOs. The Sarkozy announcement
should kick start a debate on whether the GM intensive farming model is the
right way forward  for agriculture in Europe and the rest of the world. Many
people now recognize that the long term care of the land, biodiversity and
natural resources and the production of high quality food is the way forward.
Let's hope Number 10 and Defra are also listening."


Notes

1.  See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7062577.stm

2. In 1997 the French Government refused to sign commercial marketing
consents for two GM oilseed rape varieties produced by Plant Genetics Systems
(since taken over and now part of Bayer CropScience) after a qualified vote in
favour in December 1996. The Farm Scale Evaluations in the UK (1999-2003)
found that GM herbicide tolerant spring and winter oilseed rape both
significantly reduced the amounts of weeds and weed seeds in arable fields
this reducing the supply of food for farmland birds and other species.

3. See http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRU00606620071025

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