Germany Bans GM Corn
Germany has thrown its weight behind a growing European mutiny over GM crops by banning the planting of a widely grown
pest-resistant corn variety.
Agriculture minister Ilse Aigner said there was enough evidence to support arguments that MON 810, which is the only GM
crop widely grown in Europe, posed a danger.
"I have come to the conclusion that genetically modified corn from the MON 810 strain constitutes a danger to the
environment," Aigner said.
Germany's move, which has immediate effect, goes against the European Commission's decision to support the lifting of
bans on planting MON 810 which have been imposed by governments in France, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Luxembourg.
EXTRACTS FROM THE GERMAN PRESS:
The ban has been widely welcomed by most media commentators in Germany - see THE WORLD FROM BERLIN -- Spiegel Online
"The damage that genetically modified crops can cause to the animal and plant worlds - from mutation to reduced
biodiversity - is not foreseeable. If nature were a business like Monsanto, with press spokespeople and bags of money
for good lawyers, then it would have won the genetic modification case long ago." - Berliner Zeitung
"A minister has no choice; one has to make a decision that is both politically acceptable and realistic... The fact that
only water fleas and butterflies have so far been harmed does not refute warnings of unforeseeable consequences. Who
knows how many humans will soon have to endure the same fate as those small creatures?" -- Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung
"The first thoroughly Bavarian political reason [for the decision to ban GM]: The farmers in Bavaria oppose genetically
modified corn, and so does the CSU… There is a deep mistrust of genetic modification. Germans are prepared to accept
every artificial flavor, every preservative or any other dubious ingredient in food - but when it's a question of
genetic modification, they want nothing to do with it." - Financial Times Deutschland
"As long as there are any doubts, Germany should follow the example of other EU countries and prevent the cultivation of
GM corn - or at least impose a moratorium." - Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Munich)
AND THE VIEW OF THE INDUSTRY:
Lobbyists for the biotechnology industry in Germany described the decision as a setback for science and for the economy.
They warned that it would prompt biotechnology companies to relocate to other parts of the world.
ENDS