In an about-face, the European Union this week indicated its readiness to consider the use of the latest gene techniques to enhance food production in the face of climate change and possible crop shortages.
Unlike the US and others, which were prompt to approve and adopt new bioengineering technologies, the EU has been resolutely cautious since 2001 about permitting the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for improved crop production.
Yesterday, the European Commission (EC) gave its blessing to the latest genomic techniques, noting that they offer a surer, faster and more acceptable way for changing organisms than did the GMOs of old.
“In many ways, new genomic techniques can give you the same results as through conventional and natural selection, or through targeted crossbreeding, but with much more speed, precision and efficiency,” EC Vice President Frans Timmermans declared.
The new techniques are intended to make plants more drought-resistant, less dependent on pesticides and of greater appeal to consumers in terms of appearance and consistency.
While the multi-national agro-corporations and big farming companies have welcomed the EU plans, environmentalists, predictably, are upset and opposed. The EC proposal merely marks the start of a lengthy process. The plans must be endorsed by EU member states and the European Parliament before they can enter force.
The EU’s approach to the use of GMOs is reflected in current GMO legislation that dates from 2001. Then it assured environmentalists that it wouldn’t allow big agro-corporations to produce GMOs freely and sell their products to the EU’s 450 million citizens unless they carried detailed labels and clear warnings.
Yesterday’s EC announcement elicited a statement from the bloc’s main farm lobbying group, Copa-Cogeca, which said: “After more than a decade of postponements, the European Commission has finally presented a proposal.”
Alarmed environmentalists maintain that there are too many dangers associated with the new GMO technology and that much better testing is still required.
“Whether it’s a toy or a face cream, any product on the market needs to be safety tested. Why would there be an exemption for GMOs that end up in our fields or on our plates,” Greenpeace’s Eva Corral pronounced. “Biotech companies have long considered these safety procedures an unnecessary bother and it’s disappointing to see the Commission agree with them.”
EC Vice President Timmermans took issue with Corral’s assessment, insisting that if it is clearly established that plants based on new genomic techniques could occur naturally or by conventional breeding, they should be treated like conventional plants.
The European People’s Party (EPP), the biggest in the EU legislature, was unequivocal in showing its support for the announced plans. Jessica Polfjärd MEP, declared it was time that other political groups gave up “their out-dated resistance” to innovation and technological progress. “We need new technologies to secure sustainable food production”, she stressed.
Endorsing the EC’s move, Herbert Dorfmann MEP, the EPP Group Spokesman in the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, claimed that Europe had “dragged its feet” for too long.
“To achieve the goals of the Farm to Fork Strategy, including the reduction of pesticides, farmers need new tools. The Regulation of new genomic techniques is essential. We urgently need legislative clarity for research and innovations for plants that are more nutritious, can better adapt to changing climate conditions and are more resilient against pests and diseases”, he declared.
