| 9/4/2003 Brussels Rejects Austria's Modified Crop Ban - 9/3 Financial Times The decision comes as the European Union faces immense pressure to end a five-year de facto moratorium on the approval of new GM varieties, in the wake of a challenge by the US at the World Trade Organisation. The Commission's efforts to restart the approval process have been repeatedly set back by the intransigence of a group of EU member states strictly opposed to GM technology - a stance that reflects anxieties among European consumers. Brussels has vowed to proceed with new approvals of GM varieties following the adoption of two laws that set out stringent labelling requirements for GM products sold in the EU. After months of acrimonious talks, the laws were passed by the European parliament and, in July, by member states. They are now expected to come into force in the autumn. The Commission had argued that the laws were necessary for the approval process to be restarted. It said yesterday it expected the first authorisation to come through next year, a move that should, in theory, make the US legal challenge redundant. But EU member states could still thwart the Commission's plans by demanding more legislation to protect farmers and consumers. This is precisely the stance the Austrian government has already adopted, calling for EU-wide measures setting out rules on the co-existence of conventional and GM farming. Although the Commission has made clear that it feels such measures should best be left to individual member states, some governments would prefer Brussels to regulate questions ranging from compensation in the case of cross-pollination to the width of zones dividing conventional from GM crops. Daniel Kapp, spokesman for the Austrian agricultural ministry, said: "Under the present circumstances, Austria cannot support the lifting of the moratorium. We need Europe-wide rules on co-existence first." The debate over co-existence was also at the heart of yesterday's Commission decision: the region of Upper Austria had planned to turn itself into a GM-free zone, in an attempt to protect conventional and organic farms from cross-pollination and the economic damage they might suffer as a result. But Brussels found that the region had not produced any fresh scientific evidence to justify the measures. Related Link: http://www.financialtimes.com |
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