London (3.1.07) – As ever, there is movement in the field of agricultural biotechnology, more positive, perhaps, on the other side of the world than on this.

The European Commission had sought to admonish Austria for their persistent illegal ban on the cultivation of EU-approved GM crops.

The Commission had asked the Council to overturn the Austrian ban on two genetically-modified maize seeds which have repeatedly been pronounced safe after protracted EU reviews. One of the products, Mon810, is designed to resist the European corn borer, a widespread moth larva that can destroy crops. It is already grown in Spain, France, Germany, Portugal and the Czech Republic without any safety or environmental issues, thus demonstrating that Austria's objections are without foundation. The other, T25, permits farmers to use a broad-spectrum herbicide for weed control without damaging the crop.

By a qualified majority, the EU's Environment Council on December 18th rejected the Commission call for the prohibition to be repealed. Only the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK voted in favour; apparently all the other 21 Member States preferred to look to the past rather than to the future (1).

In any case, the authorization of both GM-corn lines, which was accorded in 1998, will expire in 2007.
In order to continue to be marketed, they would need to be re-authorized according to the new genetic engineering law. This includes a safety evaluation according to altered basic conditions. Should both the GM-corn lines MON810 and T25 be re-authorized according to this basis, the EU-Commission could take legal action against the Austrian bans before the European Court of Justice (2)

Further to the east, environmentalists in Romania have secured a victory in getting genetically modified (GM) soy finally banned (3). The crop had been growing very successfully in Romania for some years but has not been formally approved for cultivation by the EU. So, in the course of negotiations for membership by the Romanian government, the question arose as to whether they might seek derogation for their own ongoing cultivation. But those negotiations were clearly delicate and the Romanian side appears to have decided not to make an issue of the GM soy but to ban it even though it occupied 25,000 hectares in the area of the Danube Delta. It remains to be seen what might happen and how good enforcement will be: the history of GM crop cultivation in a number of countires suggests that the imitative of the farmers may well be more effective than the statements of the government.

Meanwhile, in Britain one of the farmers who had agreed to participate in test plantings of BASF’s GM blight-resistant potatoes (http://www.cropgen.org/article_102.html) withdrew on the grounds of fears for his personal safety. The Derbyshire police said they were unable to comment on the situation (4). Nevertheless, BASF announced they were on the verge of agreeing a new site for the potato trial (5).

But, round the other side of the world, things are more positive. In Victoria (Australia), Florigene Pty Ltd. has received approval for the limited and controlled release of up to nine lines of genetically modified (GM) torenia (a widely grown ornamental plant) with altered flower colour (6). And the Victorian Government has applied to a Federal Government regulator for permission to grow trial crops of drought-tolerant GM wheat (7). Under the proposal, up to 30 lines of GM wheat would be grown in a maximum area of 0.225 hectares. Earlier this year, a group of farm and food industry leaders, chaired by former National Farmers Federation president Peter Corish, called for states to end their bans on commercial GM crops, warning that Australian farmers were being left behind by developments overseas.

According to a report tabled in the Victoria Parliament, “Victorians are vastly uneducated and uninformed about gene technology issues and need a major campaign to bring them up to speed”. A panel of three senior Victorian experts and bureaucrats recommended state and federal governments fund a major advertising campaign (8).

Sources:

1. Andrew Bounds. Austria allowed to keep its ban on GM corn. Financial Times (19.12.06) (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/60029546-8f05-11db-a7b2-0000779e2340.html)

2. EU-Council of Ministers Sustain Toleration of Austria’s bans on MON810 and T25 Corn. Seed Today (3.1.07) (http://www.seedtoday.com/articles/EU_Council_of_Ministers_Sustain_Toleration_of_Austria_s_bans_on_MON810_and_T25_Corn-40405.html)

3 . Vesna Peric Zimonjic. GM soy to be banned. Inter Press Service News Agency (19.12.06) (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35903)

4 . Ian Sample. Farmer quits GM trial after phone threats. The Guardian (16.12.06) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,,1973379,00.html)

5 . GM potato trials will go ahead despite location withdrawal. Farmers Weekly (22.12.06) (http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2006/12/22/100371/gm-potato-trials-will-go-ahead-despite-location-withdrawal.html)

6 . Application for Licence for Limited and Controlled Release of GMOs Into the Environment: Application No. DIR 068/2006 Limited and Controlled release of GM torenia. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (20.12.06) (http://www.ogtr.gov.au/ir/dir068.htm)

7 . Peter Ker. State seeks permission to grow trial crops of GM drought-tolerant wheat. The Age (Melbourne, Australia) (21.12.06) (http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/state-seeks-permission-to-grow-trial-crops-of-gm-droughttolerantwheat/2006/12/20/1166290614364.html)

8 . Peter Ker. Modify minds about GM. The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
(22.12.06) (http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/modify-minds-about-gm/2006/12/21/1166290679179.html)

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