Why the two GM maize should NOT be grown in the EU

There are a number of problems with the implementation of EU GMO laws and some of the legal requirements are simply not being met. This was recently acknowledged by all 27 EU Environment ministers at the December 2008 Environment Council meeting. Ministers called for a number of improvements and changes to the risk assessment of GMOs. In particular, EU Ministers stressed the need to:

1. assess long-term impacts of GM plants and their effects on non-target organisms (Article 3); including a thorough review of the EFSA guidelines to this effect, as previously requested by the European Commission (Article 2 and 3)
   
   
2. take full account of the specific regional and local characteristics of the Member States (Article 15);
   
   
3. co-ordinate the assessments of pesticide-producing GM crops (such as Bt11 and 1507) with the assessments of pesticide products (Article 4);
   
   
4. assess the environmental consequences of changes in the use of herbicides caused by herbicide-tolerant crops (Article 4);
   
   
5. address the socio-economic impacts of GM cultivation by June 2010 (Article 7). [1]

It is therefore totally inappropriate for the EU to consider growing new GM crops until EU GMO laws are properly implemented.

As well as this, the two GM maize are particularly controversial as they are genetically engineered to produce an insecticidal Bt-toxin and contain a gene making them resistant to the herbicide glufosinate:

- These two GM crops are engineered to be used with a pesticide that will be banned for use in the European Union. The European Parliament and European Council recently agreed that 22 pesticides [2] must be banned in the EU because of serious risks to health and the environment. Glufosinate is one of these substances.

- EU ministers and the European Commission have requested that the potential negative environmental consequences of the changes in the use of herbicides caused by herbicide-tolerant GM plants be assessed. [3] However, Bt11 and 1507 have never been assessed according to these standards.

- The European Commission has put forward the proposal on the two maize under pressure from the company Pioneer, which produces maize 1507. In a deal following legal action by Pioneer, the Commission decided to act by taking a decision that disregards the scientific controversy around these kinds of GMOs and the concerns about the impact GM crops will have on wildlife and European farming.

Why countries should keep their national GMO bans