Nov 27, 2007

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Debate on the authorisation procedure for GM crops in the EU

Less politics, more science

The German minister of agriculture, Horst Seehofer, has proposed a fundamental change to the authorisation procedure for genetically modified plants in the EU. His idea is that in future, decisions should be taken on a purely scientific basis. Political votes, such as those currently held in the Council of Ministers and in the European Commission, should cease. Seehofer proposes that until a new procedure is agreed on and established, no new authorisations should be granted.

Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer regards the current authorisation procedure in the EU as “highly unsatisfactory” and is calling for a moratorium on authorisations.
Photo: dsv-saaten

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas wants to refuse authorisation for two GM maize lines, thereby overriding EFSA’s scientific recommendation.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel fears “dramatic consequences” if there is a moratorium on authorisations in the EU.

On the fringes of the meeting of the EU agriculture ministers in Brussels, Seehofer said that the procedure followed until now was “questionable” because it did not take sufficient account of public reservations. “We should stop it for the moment and see if the procedure is okay like this,” Seehofer told the AFP news agency.

Seehofer spoke out in favour of having GM plants authorised on a purely scientific basis by a specialist authority. There should no longer be any political voting among the member states or in the European Commission. Their job, he claims, is to set framework conditions for the use of GM plants, such as rules to guarantee coexistence between GM and non-GM crops, and labelling requirements. Seehofer called for the authorisation of GM plants to be dealt with in the same way as pharmaceutical products, where a competent scientific authority takes decisions without any political involvement.

Authorisation decisions concerning GM plants and food and feed products produced from them are already taken based on a scientific safety assessment carried out by the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA ). Their opinion is taken into account in the proposed decision drawn up by the European Commission. During the required vote in the Council of Ministers, the member states that disagree fundamentally on this issue then block each other. The necessary qualified majority of member states has not yet been achieved in a single case. In these cases the EU treaties state that the authorisation decision should be taken by the European Commission, which is bound by the scientific opinion of EFSA.

Another reason behind Seehofer’s proposals are the current controversies within the European Commission regarding authorisation for the cultivation of two GM maize lines, Bt11 and 1507. EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas had publicly declared that he would not be granting the authorisation, thereby overriding the expert scientific opinion of EFSA. Unlike the EFSA experts, Dimas has doubts about the environmental compatibility of the two GM maize lines. However, the majority of the European Commissioners do not intend to follow Dimas’s lead. Now they are to negotiate a common course within the Commission. “One Commissioner says it’s okay; the other doesn’t. It is not acceptable that we politicians decide according to majorities and current moods. This is no way to proceed,” Seehofer told the Reuters news agency.

Authorisation moratorium: Fischer Boel fears a rise in meat prices

So far there are no detailed proposals for a new authorisation procedure. While the French minister of agriculture, Barnier, supports Seehofer, EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel is warning against a new moratorium on authorisations. She criticises the length of time that the authorisation processes take in the EU and is calling for them to be speeded up considerably.

Fischer Boel fears shortages and a significant rise in the price of feed products in Europe if countries like the USA, Argentina and Brazil, from which Europe imports its feed products, were to approve GM crops in quick succession. Without an authorisation in the EU, no trace of these GM plants will be allowed in agricultural imports. Preventing adventitious contamination is, Fischer Boel claims, technically very complex and expensive. Europe obtains 85 per cent of its soya imports and 45 per cent of its maize imports from these three countries, according to Fischer Boel. Meat production in Europe is dependent on massive feed imports.