inGENEa

O voto contra por parte de 10 Ministros da Agricultura europeus assegurou ontem um bloqueio à aprovação de 3 variedades de milho transgénico (para importação). O nosso Ministro da Agricultura, aparentemente, votou favoravelmente à aprovação. Outra coisa não seria de esperar, deste confesso capataz do agronegócio.
Na falta de maioria qualificada, a decisão passa agora para a Comissão Europeia, que invariavelmente tem sido favorável aos transgénicos, aprovando qualquer variedade que lhe chega às mãos, contra todas as vontades menos a de alguns poderosos. Assim, é de esperar a aprovação destas 3 variedades de milho nas próximas semanas, que os produtores de animais europeus tanto esperam, a ver se lhes baixa o custo das rações.

Milho não falta na Europa, mesmo para o mau uso dado no seu destino energeticamente ineficiente para as rações animais. Só que mais uma vez a Europa terá que ceder às pressões dos exportadores de milho transgénico, em particular os EUA, onde subsídios perversos fazem com que o seu preço após o transporte para a Europa consiga ser mais barato do que os excedentes de produção de países como a Hungria… e assim anda o milho pelo mundo. ——————————- GENET-news ——————————-

TITLE:  EU MINISTERS DEADLOCKED ON THREE GMO MAIZE APPROVALS

SOURCE: Reuters

AUTHOR: Jeremy Smith

URL:    http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL2683483420070926

DATE:   26.09.2007

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EU MINISTERS DEADLOCKED ON THREE GMO MAIZE APPROVALS

BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - EU farm ministers fell short of a consensus agreement on Wednesday to allow imports of three genetically modified (GMO) maize types, again revealing their deep differences on GMO crops and foods, officials said.

The three biotech maize types, two of them hybrids, would be imported for processing, for all food and feed uses. They are not meant to be cultivated within the 27-country European Union.

Since the ministers failed to achieve the required majority under the EU’s weighted voting system, the decision now passes to the European Commission, which should issue a rubberstamp authorisation according to EU legal procedures.

This usually means a 10-year default approval is issued within a few weeks, although EU officials said the authorisations might take a little longer this time.

”There was no change in the positions ... the authorisations revert to the Commission for a final decision,” a Commission official told reporters on the margins of the meeting.

”The Commission will in the coming weeks revisit the issue and take a decision. It may take a couple of months,” he said.

The first GMO maize, known commercially as Herculex RW and also by its code name 59122, is jointly made by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont Co., and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds.

Herculex is designed to protect against larval stages of corn rootworm, which eats through plant roots and so reduces yield and nutrients. It also resists the active herbicide ingredient glusofinate ammonium.

The same two companies also developed a maize hybrid called 1507/NK603, engineered to resist field pests like the European corn borer, and also the herbicides glufosinate and glyphosate.

Corn borers, which attack the plant stalks and kernels, are found across Europe and thrive in warmer climates in southern EU countries such as Spain and Italy.

The third GMO maize is also a hybrid, developed by U.S. biotech company Monsanto and called MON810/NK603. The maize plants resist certain insects and also glyphosate -- the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide.

INDUSTRY URGES QUICK APPROVAL

For many years, EU countries have not been able to gain the majority needed to vote through a new GMO approval under the EU’s weighted voting system. But that may be slowly changing.

Analysis of recent GMO voting patterns shows that the consistent blocking minority of EU governments may be eroding as some smaller countries are opting to abstain rather than reject an application outright -- so weakening the anti-GMO camp.

”It is heartening that the great majority of member states representing a large and significant majority of the EU population are consistently voting positively for approving biotech products that have been evaluated as safe by the EFSA (EU’s food safety authority), said Mike Hall, Pioneer’s communications manager for Europe.

”We urge the Commission to move swiftly in giving the final approval ... so that European farmers can import grain and other products containing these safe biotech events,” he said.

Some countries, like Britain, Finland and the Netherlands, almost always vote in favour of approving new GMOs. They are offset by a group of GMO-sceptic states like Austria, Greece and Luxembourg, which vote against and force a stalemate.

                                  PART 2

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TITLE:  BIOTECH MAIZE BLOCKED IN EU

SOURCE: Forbes, USA

AUTHOR: The Associated Press

URL:    http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/09/26/ap4157856.html

DATE:   26.09.2007

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BIOTECH MAIZE BLOCKED IN EU

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - Agriculture ministers from 10 EU countries on Wednesday blocked approval of three genetically modified varieties of maize for use on the European market, reflecting continued deep divisions among EU nations over whether biotech crops pose a risk to human or animal health.

The products had been given the all-clear by the EU’s food safety authority, EFSA, which said they would not have adverse effects on health or the environment.

Diplomats said Austria, Malta, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg voted against, while France and Italy abstained, ensuring a deadlock. Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden led the group of biotech crop supporters.

The failure to reach agreement means it will be left to the EU’s executive commission to approve the three products, which it is expected to do in the coming weeks.

Two of the GM crops were jointly developed and marketed by U.S. companies Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a division of Dupont Co., and Mycogen Seeds.

Their maize products are designed to resist insects like the corn rootworm and be tolerant to herbicides. The third maize product, developed by U.S. biotech firm Monsanto Co., is also insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant.

All three products are meant to be used in food and animal feed production but not used for cultivation in the EU.

The European Commission has been trying to get all EU governments on side to open up the EU market to more biotech crops, something the United States, Canada and others have demanded.

The EU ended a six-year moratorium on accepting applications for new biotech products in May 2004, introducing strict approval procedures and labeling regulations, but several EU nations remain reluctant to authorize biotech crops because of public health and environmental concerns.

Entrada publicada Thursday, 27 Sep, 2007 às 13:58 , arquivada em Polí­tica, Transgénicos. As respostas a esta entrada podem ser seguidas em RSS 2.0. Neste momento não são permitidos comentários nem pings.