Intro: "France's attempt to ban the planting of a Monsanto strain of genetically modified maize was rejected by the EU's food safety body on Monday."
A protester destroys GM trial crops near Dorset in 2000. (photograph: Simon Chapman)
French Ban of Monsanto GM Maize Rejected by EU
23 May 12
rance's attempt to ban the planting of a Monsanto strain of genetically modified maize was rejected by the EU's food safety body on Monday.
In response to scientific evidence submitted by France backing its bid to ban the GM maize, the European Food Safety Authority ruled that "there is no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment" to support a ban.
In 2008, France banned the the strain MON 810 following public protests against the GM maize, but this was overturned by a French court in 2011. However, in March the French government reinstated the ban, with the then agricultural minister Bruno Le Maire saying the move was "to protect the environment".
The Monsanto-owned strain, marketed as YieldGard by the US company, is an insect-resistant strain of maize that was introduced in 1997.
In its verdict on Monday, Efsa said that much of the scientific evidence in France's new submission in January had already been included in a previous 2008 submission to the agency, which concluded at the time "that no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment, was provided that would justify the invocation of a safeguard clause [ban]". It added that no new scientific work had been submitted that suggested there was risk to the environment, either.
A spokesman for Europe's health commissioner, John Dalli, told the AFP news agency that the EU executive "will consider how to follow up on this ruling, though technically we could ask France to raise its ban [on the Monsanto strain]".
The ruling follows a renewed focus on GM food in the UK, with researchers making a plea to anti-GM activists not to rip up a test site of GM wheat. On Sunday, Hector Christie, an old Etonian farmer, was arrested for breaking into the Rothamsted Research site where the wheat is being grown and cutting the top off several plants.
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
 15 June 2013
|
 15 June 2013
|
 15 June 2013
|
 16 June 2013
|
 16 June 2013
|
 16 June 2013
|
 17 June 2013
|
 16 June 2013
|
 15 June 2013
|
Comments
We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.
General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.
Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.
- The RSN Team
Let's end the madness... i say: "The citizens of every country should OCCUPY EVERYTHING!!!.. ..." 'cause the people in power are not ordinary... and instead of being extra-ordinary like Ghandi... they've proven to be extra-ordinary like Charles Manson... let's rid ourselves of these psychopaths! i bet ordinary people with common sense - a sense of "ubuntu" -could do a far better job. We are all so tired of this crapp... it must end now!
AMERICA please vote for ROSANNE BARR!!!
I don't know why she swallowed GM Maize,
She must be crazed.
I know an old lady who swallowed pesticide called bacillus thuringiensis and she now has it inside; she swallowed pesticide cause it's in GM Maize, I don't know why she swallowed GM Maize, She must be crazed.
I know an old lady who had a toxic reaction, such a distraction that toxic reaction. She had a toxic reaction because she swallowed pesticide called bacillus thuringiensis and she now has it inside; she swallowed pesticide cause it's in GM Maize, I don't know why she swallowed GM Maize, She must be crazed.
I know an old lady who has liver and kidney lesions, must be the season for liver and kidney lesions. She developed the lesions because of the toxic reaction, she had the toxic reaction because she swallowed pesticide called bacillus thuringiensis which she now has inside; she swallowed pesticide which is in GM Maize, I don't know why she swallowed GM Maize, She must be crazed.
I know an old lady who finally asked why: For Monsanto profits, why should I die? We'll never know why!
Good job MJnevetS. 8-D
But I do see a problem. Gmo is more expensive so capital rich corporations can use it better than small, family, or subsistence farmers. So instead of making the poor richer, we make the rich richer. More suffering!
Developing super bugs or weeds has always been the case but we can speed up that process also which adds to the expense of more gmo's.
I could probably use more information, but I see mostly emotional responses rather than informative responses. At this point I see more of a capitalistic-gl obalization problem than a food quality problem.
Teach me!
You also talk about it being a capitalistic-gl obalization problem. Well yes it is. They intended originally to control the entire global food production system and therefore dictate who ate and who didn't. Now to my mind it has absolutely nothing to do with Monsanto or any other biotech company what food I eat. It is my concern. I remain the sole decider when it comes to the food I wish to eat and I choose to eat organic food because this is the best and most sustainable way to live with regards the planets finite resources. Monsanto don't give a shit about the planet.
GM is GM whilst cross breeding is cross breeding. They are not even remotely similar in any way.
Also of importance is the fact that no GM crop has ever produced anywhere as much yield per hectare as conventional farming has. And to call chemical agriculture 'conventional' is totally wrong in my opinion.
Also of note is the fact that the GM crops continue to require more pesticides and herbicides beyond the ones we usually associate with GM crops because of other deficiencies of the GM crops. They also still require lots of fertiliser which is currently on its last legs. By 2030/1 the last mineral phosphate deposits will have been extracted from the last known natural reserves and that will signal the end of phosphorus for plant growing, We cannot manufacture phosphorus which is an essential mineral for all plants to grow.
So you see there is an agenda. It is not about helping to feed or nurture or protect. It is about control and profits and that is bad enough and justifiable reason to ban the damn stuff forever. No-one should hold the rest of the planetary populations to ransom regardless of their reasons.
pesticide can't kill ?? Would you want to feed that to your children ??
---What is the connection?
It's not good for French farmers or for French consumers? Who benefits from Monsanto's growing monopoly on the world's foood supply?
That's the reason I voted NO to the EU "constitution" that was proposed to us Europans in 2005: not only did it specify the way decisions were made but also what decisions were made.
Ireland and France voted it down, but the technocrats chnaged it a little, renamed it and accepted it... without asking Us the People.
Oh and their poodle politicians would be exposed as well.
RSS feed for comments to this post