April 17, 2014
France bans cultivation of GM corn
Franch lower house of parliament adopted a law on April 15 prohibiting the cultivation of any variety of genetically modified corn, citing a risk to the environment.
Last month, France passed a decree to halt the planting of Monsanto's insect-resistant MON810 corn, the only GM crop allowed for cultivation in the European Union.
The law also applies to any strain adopted at EU level in future, including Pioneer 1507 developed jointly by DuPont and Dow Chemical, which could be approved by the EU executive later this year.
The French government has opposed the growing of GM crops over concerns of public suspicion and protests by environmentalists.
French farmers and seed companies have challenged the decree at court, which has twice struck down similar measures in 2011 and 2013, saying there was insufficient justification.
There is still a debate on GM policy in the EU. The European Commission suggested an opt-out, which would allow individual countries to ban such crops.