March 3, 2015
New EU law on GM crop ban becomes effective
The 28 member states of the European Union on Monday voted on and approved a new law giving them extra powers to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops in their respective territories even if these have been approved by the European Food Safety Authority.
Friends of the Earth Europe immediately called on the governments of the 28 countries to ban all GM maize crops--the only category of GM crop currently approved for cultivation in Europe.
EU authorities have approved two GM cropsfor commercial cultivation, with one of them later blocked by a court, leaving Monsanto's GM maize MON810 as the only GM crop grown in Europe. MON810 has been cultivated in Spain and Portugal for the past decade
Earlier in November, the new law was endorsed by the European Parliament's environment committee, and in January by the European Parliament.
Conservatives in the European Parliament had rued the newly effective law with its environment spokesperson, Julie Girling, saying it "risks inflicting untold damage to robust, science-based policymaking in Europe".
Girlling had said they would continue to oppose the new law under which governments still have to consult biotech companies when banning a crop.