The
European Commission has announced 19 EU member states will be able to ban the
cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops. Environmental groups praised
the news.
Deutsche Welle, 5 Nov 2015
The 19 EU
member states will be able to ban GM cultivation on their territory after
biotech and agriculture companies dropped objections on Thursday.
GM crops
have faced resistance in Europe amid concern over their impact on health and
the environment.
Previously,
EU member states could only ban GM cultivation based on scientific evidence of
health or environmental risks, but under new rules they will also be able to
cite other reasons, including political considerations.
The
decision comes after the Brussels - split between pro and anti-GM members -had, after years of negotiations, allowed individual member states to decide whether they would grow GM crops.
"The
new approach allows member states to listen to the concerns of many European
citizens and have the final say on whether or not GMOs can be cultivated on
their territory," European Commission spokesman Enrico Brivio said.
The 19
countries include Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia.
Germany
will also ban GM crops, but wants to allow for GM research. Denmark and
Luxembourg want to ban four GM crops, while Belgium and Britain have asked for
the ban to apply in only certain parts of their countries.
“Over the
past 20 years, GM technology has only been taken up by a handful of countries
for a handful of crops, so no wonder two thirds of Europe have decided to ban
it," Greenpeace EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg said in a
statement. "Where GM crops are grown, they lead to increased pesticide use
and the entrenchment of industrial farming systems that in turn exacerbate
hunger, malnutrition and climate change.”
Monsanto's
Roundup Ready line of GM crops has been linked to the massive population
decline of monarch butterflies in North America.
Nearly 85
percent of GM crops in the world are grown in four countries: the US, Brazil,
Argentina and Canada.
The EU still imports GM products, but a proposal to make it easier to ban or restrict
GM imports is still under consideration.
cw/rc (dpa)
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Normal good health is turning to simple physics for some of the simplest things. New kinds of foods are being grown with new physics, not chemistry. These will be physic-foods [Kryon name] that are not genetically altered or chemically altered, but benevolently enhanced by physics! This causes a new kind of super growth that can feed the planet in a way it's never been fed before. It will create food that is resistant to absolutely everything - insects, bacteria and disease - all through physics. Who thought of that? What you're expecting in the future regarding health is based upon the past. The big filter of past knowledge keeps you from thinking out of the box. You don't know what you don't know. ….”
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