Nov 27, 2007

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Dispute over cultivation authorisation for two Bt maize lines

EU Commissioner Dimas opposes his own expert scientific authority

European Environment Commissioner Dimas intends to refuse to authorise two genetically modified Bt maize lines, Bt11 and 1507, for cultivation in the EU. In doing so, he is overriding the expert scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). While Dimas is justifying his decision on the grounds of potential risks to the environment, the EFSA experts came to the conclusion in their safety assessment that cultivation of these Bt maize lines is just as safe as cultivation of conventional maize.

No GM plant has been authorised for cultivation in the EU since 1998. Now, after years of consultations and testing, three applications are awaiting a decision. The scientific safety assessment is complete, and all the legal requirements for authorisation have been met. Now the European Commission needs to come up with a decision proposal. The person responsible for this is Greek EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

The EU legislation on genetic engineering states that the Commission should usually follow EFSA’s scientific opinion when making a decision. Dimas is now deviating from this for the first time. He is recommending that the Commission should not authorise the two Bt maize lines 1507 and Bt11 for cultivation in the EU. In doing so he is defying the recommendations in the expert report from EFSA’s GMO Panel.

“Serious indications”

Dimas justifies his proposal on the grounds of “serious indications” that the cultivation of Bt maize has harmful impacts on non-target organisms. In addition, he claims that there is a risk of changes to the food chain, since caterpillars will be attacked more by parasitoids. Other undesirable consequences of the cultivation of Bt maize, according to Dimas, are negative impacts on the microbial communities in the soil. The cultivation of Bt maize would also lead to pollution of surface rivers and lakes, which would affect the aquatic ecosystems. Since, in his opinion, possible long-term risks have not been sufficiently researched, and suitable research methods are not available, Dimas believes it is necessary, in the name of the precautionary principle, not to authorise the two Bt maize lines for cultivation.

Dimas bases his decision on eleven scientific publications which, he claims, EFSA did not take sufficiently into account.

“Dimas is citing scientific arguments that were disproved a long time ago”

However, Dimas is now facing some opposition. His decision to refuse the authorisation has “no scientific basis,” according to Prof. Marc Van Montagu, President of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) in an open letter to Dimas. In nine of the eleven publications listed there were, according to Prof. Montagu, no indications of harmful environmental effects resulting from the cultivation of Bt maize, contrary to what the Commissioner says in his justification. And the other two studies did not provide any justification for a ban on cultivation in Europe either: In one research project on the impacts of Bt toxin on the caddis-fly, initial laboratory findings were not confirmed under natural conditions; the other publication focuses on fundamental methodological questions.

In his letter to Dimas, EFB President Prof. Montagu emphasises that EFSA’s scientific opinion ties in with a large number of studies and publications.

• In summer 2007, a group of US ecologists published a metastudy of 42 individual research projects into the impacts of Bt toxin on non-target organisms. They found nothing to indicate ecological risks.
• A total of 63 scientific studies have confirmed that the Bt toxin does not accumulate in the soil and does not have any harmful impacts on soil organisms.

With his decision proposal, Dimas is overriding the scientific expertise of his own expert authority. In doing so, the EFB letter criticises, he is damaging the credibility and scientific reputation of the European Food Safety Authority.

Whether Dimas will be able to have his way is not yet clear. His opinion is evidently not shared by the majority of the other EU Commissioners. They are now to negotiate a common course. At the same time, they are to decide on the third GM plant pending authorisation for cultivation in the EU: the Amflora potato with a modified starch composition. No date has been set for this yet.