French ban on maize illegal
French ban on maize illegal
FRANCE has been told its ban on the marketing of three genetically modified maizes from Swiss company Novartis is unlawful.
Ironically it was France which originally sponsored the Bt varieties. But, despite approval by the EU Commission in 1997, the Paris government then suspended its final consent, after pressure from environmental group Greenpeace.
Greenpeace had challenged the French government on the grounds that neither environmental nor health risks were properly taken into account in the original approval process. The matter was referred to the European court in Luxembourg for an opinion.
But last week, advocate general, Jean Mischo, said that "a member state which transmits a request to the European commission for an authorisation to place a GMO on the market, does not have the power to refuse final consent".
Although the advocate generals opinion is not legally binding, the European court is unlikely to change that view when it issues its final ruling next year.
Greenpeace has expressed disappointment. "We are sad to see that the advocate general supports this undemocratic EU approval process," said Arnaud Apoteker from the organisations Paris office. "When the Novartis maize was approved, 13 member states opposed it."
But the development has been welcomed by the bio-tech industry. Although Novartis was not prepared to comment ahead of the final court decision, a spokesman for Monsanto said the ruling should free the approval of other GM products caught up by similar national bans.
But it would not affect the EUs general moratorium on new GMO approvals, put in place by environment ministers in June of this year.
• A new opinion poll of 1000 people in France has found that 56% have misgivings about the introduction of GMOs. *