Germans shelve GM trials

26 January 2001



Germans shelve GM trials

By FWi staff

PRESSURE is growing on Britain to abandon genetically modified crop trials after Germany shelved similar plans, reports the Daily Express.

German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has announced an indefinite postponement of a three-year programme of GM trials.

In the wake of the BSE crisis on the Continent, Mr Schröder has pledged to switch from industrial farming to more natural systems.

In Britain the Department of the Environment said there were no plans to postpone GM trials.

The Express describes the German decision as fresh blow to the biotech industry, which has been stunned by European opposition to GMs.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that the BSE crisis could lead to a greener Common Agricultural Policy.

It says this will probably mean that more of the 40 billion (25.6bn) annual budget will go to environmentally friendly measures.

But it notes: “The green agenda for the CAP is still crystallising, and attacking a beleaguered industry is easier than finding solutions.”

It adds that Mr Schröders “industrial farming” jibe was unfair, as European farms are much smaller than US or Australian counterparts.

And many cases of BSE were found on small farms which did not practice intensive methods.

• German radical adds clout to EU Green lobby, FWi, 19 January, 2001
  
• Daily Express 25 January, 2001 page 10
  
• Financial Times 25 January, 2001 page 7