{"id":63378,"date":"2015-09-07T18:27:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T17:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=63378"},"modified":"2015-09-07T18:27:07","modified_gmt":"2015-09-07T17:27:07","slug":"two-more-european-countries-ban-monsantos-gmo-crops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/09\/two-more-european-countries-ban-monsantos-gmo-crops\/","title":{"rendered":"Two More European Countries Ban Monsanto\u2019s GMO Crops"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sep 2, 2015 – <\/em>Two more European countries are rejecting genetically modified organisms<\/a> (GMOs). Lativia and Greece have specifically said no to growing Monsanto<\/a>\u2018s genetically modified maize, or MON810, that\u2019s widely grown in America and Asia but is the only variety grown in Europe.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/food_democracy\/status\/638899739908399104\/photo\/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw<\/p>\n

Lativia and Greece have chosen the \u201copt-out\u201d clause of a European Union rule passed in March that allows member countries to abstain from growing GM crops, even if they are authorized by the EU. Scotland<\/a> and Germany<\/a> also made headlines in recent weeks for seeking a similar ban on GMOs.<\/p>\n

According to Reuters<\/a>, <\/em>in many European countries, there is widespread criticism against the agribusiness giant\u2019s pest-resistant crops, claiming that GM-cultivation threatens biodiversity.<\/p>\n

Monsanto said it would abide by Latvia\u2019s and Greece\u2019s request to not grow the crops. The company, however, accused the two countries of ignoring science and refusing GMOs out of \u201carbitrary political grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, Monsanto said that the move from the two countries \u201ccontradicts and undermines the scientific consensus on the safety of MON810.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monsanto also told Reuters<\/em> that since the growth of GM-crops in Europe is so small, the opt-outs will not affect their business.<\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless,\u201d the company continued, \u201cwe regret that some countries are deviating from a science-based approach to innovation in agriculture and have elected to prohibit the cultivation of a successful GM product on arbitrary political grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to NewsWire<\/a>, the EU\u2019s opt-out clause \u201cdirectly confronts U.S. free trade deal supported by EU, under which the Union should open its doors widely for the US GM industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement on Thursday, the European Commission confirmed its zero-tolerance policy against non-authorized GM products. The commission said that it\u2019s also consulting with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in order to answer \u201ca scientific question\u201d on GMO crops that\u2019s unrelated to trade negotiations with the U.S. The EFSA announced that it would release a scientific opinion on the question by the end of 2017.<\/p>\n

The environmental group, Friends of the Earth Europe<\/a>, however, has accused<\/a> the European Commission of \u201cbowing to pressure from large biotech companies to minimize the level of health and safety checks on imports\u201d of GM crops.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commission is working behind closed doors to undermine rules that guarantee Europe\u2019s food is GM-free,\u201d said Mute Schimpf, a Friends of the Earth Europe food campaigner, said in a statement. \u201cThey\u2019re bowing to pressure from big biotech companies who want to bring GM-crops through the backdoor as part of the EU-U.S. trade deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group cites a leaked letter<\/a> suggesting that the European Commission has asked the EFSA to explore bypassing food safety checks in the case of GM-imports.<\/p>\n

\u201cUndermining current food safety laws would mean the food on our plates could be contaminated with GMOs and we\u2019d never know,\u201d Schimpf continued. \u201cIt would have severe consequences for the food sector\u2014low-level contamination could not be traced and products could never be guaranteed GM-free.\u201d<\/p>\n

___________________________<\/p>\n

You Might Also Like:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

How Monsanto Took Control of Our Food System<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The New England Journal of Medicine Asks FDA to Reconsider Labeling GMO Foods<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

5 GMO Myths Debunked by Vandana Shiva<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ecowatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lativia and Greece have chosen the \u201copt-out\u201d clause of a European Union rule passed in March. Scotland and Germany made headlines in recent weeks for seeking a similar ban on GMOs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organic-gmo-genetic-engineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}