European GMO Conference: A Missed Opportunity
Environmentalists demand an immediate stop of GMO authorisations
Vienna - Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have today warned that Europe's food and farming will be widely
contaminated if genetically modified crops are grown in Europe. The warning came at the end of a
European Commission conference which failed to resolve any of the problems of growing GM crops.
Agriculture Commissioner Fischer Boel reconfirmed the Commission's position to avoid EU rules that would protect
consumers and European farmers from contamination, and continued to deny the right of regions to establish themselves as
GMO-free zones. In contrast, Environment Commissioner Dimas admitted to the failures of the European Food Safety
Authority to evaluate the long term risks of GM foods and crops.
The Commission conference on the so-called coexistence between genetically modified (GM), conventional and organic
farming, failed to resolve the key issues of preventing widespread contamination from GM crops. Instead, a coalition of
farming and environmental organisations issued a statement calling for a Europe-wide debate open to all citizens and
questioned whether coexistence is possible without widespread contamination of organic and conventional food and
agriculture by GMOs.
Geert Ritsema, Genetic Engineering Campaigner for Greenpeace International said: "Given the failures of the risk
assessment and the impact of contamination on farmers and consumers, no GM crops should be authorized for cultivation in
Europe. Contamination from genetically engineered crops is now happening in Spain. The European Commission has
completely failed to respond to the evidence we presented at this conference that this is harming organic and
conventional farming."
Helen Holder, GM Campaign Coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe said: "The freedom of choice of all of Europe's
citizens and farmers will be taken away if genetically modified crops are allowed to be grown on a large scale.
This conference failed to address the issues of contamination and how to prevent it. This is a missed opportunity. The
European public demands food free of genetic contamination and the European Commission must act to protect them."
New research (1) published this week revealed that there appears to be widespread contamination of crops in Spain, the
only country that grows GM crops on a large scale. Approximately a quarter of crops sampled showed levels of
contamination as high as 12 %.
(1) Impossible Coexistence: Seven years of GMOs have contaminated organic and conventional maize: an examination of the
cases of Catalonia and Aragon, is available for downloading at:
The report written by Greenpeace in cooperation with farmer organization Assemblea Pagesa and civil society group
Plataforma Trangènics Fora!, was launched 4th April at the opening of the European Commission conference attended by EU
ministers in Vienna.