Germany Tightens Restrictions on Genetically Modified Corn

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Germany Tightens Restrictions on Genetically Modified Corn

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,481952,00.html

 

The German government has imposed stricter regulations on the food company

Monsanto regarding the sale of genetically modified corn seeds. The new rules

are tantamount to an outright ban.

 

Genetically modified (GM) crops have long been controversial in Germany,

where organic agriculture is booming. Now the cultivation of GM corn has been

effectively banned by the government, according to media reports.

 

In its Wednesday edition, the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel reports that it

has obtained a letter sent from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to the

agricultural company Monsanto, which sells the GM corn MON 810 -- which has been

legal in Germany up until now -- as seed. In the letter, the ministry writes

that GM corn from the MON 810 product line can only be delivered to third

parties if the firm also provides an accompanying monitoring plan which

researches

the effects on the environment. The German news agency DPA also reported

Wednesday they had obtained a copy of the same letter.

 

" This amounts to a de facto ban on the cultivation of genetically modified

corn, " said Peter Rudolph, who is responsible for genetic technology in the

Brandenburg state ministry of agriculture, in remarks to Der Tagesspiegel

Tuesday.

He said the letter basically means Monsanto will no longer be allowed to sell

MON 810, as the company has not presented any monitoring plan up until now.

Brandenburg is the German state with the largest quantity of GM corn under

cultivation.

 

In the letter, the federal ministry justifies its decision by writing that

new information " gives reasons to suppose that the cultivation of MON 810 poses

a danger to the environment. "

 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture told the newspaper that the

letter should not be interpreted as a ban, but rather as a tightening of the

regulations concerning the cultivation of the GM corn.

 

The new ruling could mean that crops already planted may not be allowed to be

harvested. Brandenburg farmer Jörg Piprek told Der Tagesspiegel the new

ruling was absurd: " We've already planted the corn. They can't tell us after the

fact that it was illegal. "

 

The cultivation of genetically modified crops has been controversial all over

Europe, with anti-GM activists going as far as ripping up crops. The German

Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer has up until now justified the cultivation

of GM crops in Germany by arguing they are allowed under European Union

regulations.

 

dgs/dpa

 

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