London (2.8.06) –
In the GM stakes we are used to protesters being opponents of agricultural
biotechnology who often express their antagonism by demonstration and vandalism.
They were out again last weekend near Toulouse, where some 200 campaigners
destroyed six hectares of maize intended for Spain, to be incorporated into
animal feed. Until then such attacks had been on test plots for new varieties;
last Sunday’s episode was the first time a commercial operation had
been targeted.
But the French government is getting fed up with it all, just as commercial
GM-maize cultivation is slowly spreading in France, with some 5,000 hectares
sown this year against 493 in 2005: farm minister Dominique Bussereau strongly
condemned what he termed "these acts of vandalism".
The farmers, too, have had enough: around 300 maize growers protested on Tuesday
in southwest France in defence of a local farmer whose field of GM-maize it
was that had been destroyed.
In other respects, too, France may be moving closer to the use of gene technology
in agriculture. A French court has rules that Greenpeace France must take
down maps from its website showing the location of commercial GM maize fields
in France while another report suggests that France is set for an explosion
in GM corn planting this year: Bt-maize acreage is expected to boom from 500
ha in 2005 to 5,000 ha in 2006 as a result of the economic advantages experienced
by Bt corn growers in 2005.
The French pro-GM farm community needs legal clarity with respect to coexistence.
Although a bill to set rules was voted on by the Senate in March 2006, it
has since been held up in the National Assembly. Coexistence remains a controversial
issue and politicians are wary of acting on this legislation in the current
pre-presidential and parliamentary campaign period before the elections of
May 2007.
Agriculture is a powerful economic factor in France, with French farmers unlikely
for ever to watch foreigners benefitting from a valuable technology denied
to them.
Sources:
1. French farmers protest against GMO maize destruction. Planet Ark
(2.8.06) (http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/37468/story.htm)
2. Anthony Fletcher. France moves towards GM - opposition remains.
Food Navigator (31.7.06) (http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=69506&m=1FNE731&c=kzldommuocyjajp)
3. Marie-Cécile Hénard. France/Biotechnology/Significant
Increase in GM corn planting in 2006. USDA Global Agriculture Information
Network (7.7.2006) (http:// www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200607/146208209.doc)
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