1000 tonnes of illegal GM maize entered European food chain

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GMW: 1000 tonnes of illegal GM maize entered European food chain

" GM WATCH " <info

 

Fri, 1 Apr 2005 18:03:48 +0100

 

 

 

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1.TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Commission only acts after 10 days

2.EU deplores unauthorized imports of maize

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PRESS RELEASE

 

For immediate release: FRIDAY 1 APRIL 2005

 

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GMO CROP SCANDAL - TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Commission only acts after 10 days

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Brussels, 1 April 2005 - Friends of the Earth today criticised the

European Commission for doing too little, too late, about the illegal

import into the

EU of unapproved genetically modified (GM) maize. It is ten days since

Swiss-based Syngenta announced that it had inadvertently sold hundreds

of tonnes of the unapproved GM corn to US farmers for four years. The

Commission confirmed today that around 1000 tonnes of the illegal GM

maize

has entered the European food chain and some was planted at tests sites

in Spain and France. The Commission has now written to the United

States and to the GM company for more information.

 

The incident was first made public through an article in Nature on

March 22. The article revealed that, between 2001 and 2004, Syngenta

produced and sold several hundred tonnes of a GM corn, called Bt10, which

contains an insecticide. The corn has not been approved for human

consumption anywhere worldwide. According to the article, Syngenta and

the US

Government were in

discussions since last year over what should be done about the error,

and how and when information should be released to the public.

 

Initially Syngenta claimed that the maize was " physically identical " to

a GMO maize already approved, called bt11, a view mimicked by the

Commission. However, Friends of the Earth disagreed, pointing out that

the

unapproved

GMO also contained a controversial antibiotic resistant gene, which

confers resistance to an important groups of antibiotics. This week,

Syngenta finally admitted this was the case. (1)

 

Adrian Bebb, GM campaigner for Friends of the Earth said: " The European

Commission's response is too little and too late. For ten days they

haven't taken action, even though it was public knowledge that a food

unapproved for human consumption had entered the European food chain. The

public expects and deserves better. The Commission must now get back

into control and demand that any illegal foods are immediately removed

from the

food chain. "

 

Contact: Adrian Bebb, + 49 1609 490 1163 (mobile)

 

The original Nature article can be found at:

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050321/full/nature03570.html

 

1. Bt 10 contains the amp gene, which confers resistance to the

ampicillin family of antibiotics. In recent guidance, the European Food

Safety

Authority stated that GMOs containing this gene should not be approved

for cultivation and their use restricted to field trials.

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2.EU deplores unauthorized imports of maize

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/biotech/2005-04-01-eu-gmo-corn_x.htm

 

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said Friday that it deplored

unauthorized imports of BT10, a form of genetically modified maize

made by

Switzerland's Syngenta.

 

Genetically modified products can be sold in the European Union only

once they have been approved by EU authorities. Syngenta has yet to win

approval for BT10, but the product has been imported into some EU

countries, including France and Spain, the EU head office said.

 

U.S. federal and regulatory agencies are investigating after it emerged

that Syngenta sold BT10 in the United States for four years without

approval. Syngenta said the seeds had been used in four U.S. states and

may have made their way in food supplies in the U.S. and elsewhere.

 

" Today we have written to the U.S. authorities and Syngenta asking for

clarification of the situation with BT10, " said Philip a

spokesman for EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

 

Up to 22 pounds of the seeds were imported into Spain and France for

research purposes, according to the commission. Around 1,000 tons of food

and feed products are thought to have entered the food chain in Europe

since 2001, it added.

 

The Commission has asked Washington to supply it with a full risk

assessment of BT10 and the quantities of the product it believes have

been

exported to Europe.

 

Syngenta must supply the commission with information on the structure

of BT10 so that its presence can be detected by national governments.

 

BT10 contains proteins that are identical to the proteins in its BT11

crop, which has been approved in both the EU and the United States.

 

EU governments remain divided over genetically modified foods and have

shied away from approving any new applications for the last six years

due to public fears over health and environmental risks.

 

Last May, the Commission took the controversial step of exercising its

power to overrule EU governments, approving BT11 for import and sale,

but not cultivation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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