Oct 28, 2004

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Genetic Engineering Act:

Mediation Committee fails to reach compromise

(27 Oct.) On its second attempt, the Mediation Committee of Bundestag and Bundesrat has passed the red-green Genetic Engineering Act. With its Bundestag majority, the Berlin coalition government will now be able to outvote the federal states and bring the new legislation into force.

Stricter conditions:
Once the new Genetic Engineering Act is in force, growers of GM maize will have to comply with comprehensive regulations. New rules will also apply to field trials with Bt maize, which have already taken place in seven federal states over the course of 2004.

In the Committee’s first sitting on 22 September, two SPD-run federal states had unexpectedly pulled out: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Rhineland-Palatinate decided not to support the federal government’s draft legislation. Without their votes, and with all CDU-governed federal states unanimously opposing the legislation, the new law was set to be blocked by a two-thirds majority in the Bundesrat (upper house). The Mediation Committee therefore removed this discussion from the agenda.

Research stymied

One of the main criticisms made by the two SPD-led states was that the far-reaching liability and approval requirements introduced by the new law will make release experiments with genetically modified plants almost impossible. Research and development in agricultural biotechnology, despite being supported even in some SPD-governed states, would be hampered by the restrictive regulations of the Genetic Engineering Act.

Since then, a number of discussions have taken place between the Federal Chancellery and these two federal states. The federal government was not prepared to allow any further changes to the draft legislation, as this would have delayed the timetable which aims to have the new law in force before crop sowing begins in the spring.

Federal states do a U-turn

It appears, however, that the federal government has now been able to reach an agreement with the two states without changing the legislation text itself. In future it will be possible for plant breeders and agricultural biotechnology companies to set up a ‘liability fund’ which would safeguard farmers wanting to grow GM crops against compensation claims. The Genetic Engineering Act introduces joint liability at regional level for farmers who grow GM crops, in the event of any economic loss to conventional farms as a result of GMO contamination that cannot be traced back to one source. The liability risk will also be reduced for research organisations carrying out release experiments as part of publicly funded research projects. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Rhineland-Palatinate are now no longer opposing the draft legislation and have agreed to vote in its favour when it is put to the Bundesrat (upper house).

Now the process continues as envisaged. The Mediation Committee has established that, as a result of the different views of the federal government and Bundesrat majority, a compromise appears out of reach. The red-green Genetic Engineering Law will therefore now be sent back to the Bundesrat unchanged, where, at its forthcoming meeting on 5 November, the draft legislation will be rejected by a majority vote.

However, the new legislation, which was redrafted again in early summer, now contains only provisions that do not require the approval of the Bundesrat. The Bundestag (lower house) is entitled to overrule the majority decision of the Bundesrat, as long as it has a “Chancellor’s majority”. Currently this requires 301 votes – the red-green coalition has 304 delegates. Following the Bundesrat decision, the Bundestag will also vote on the new law. Provided that no more than three members break ranks, the new Genetic Engineering Act will be passed and made law.