New GMO corn TC1507 could be authorized in the EU

[Eboard10]

News came out a few days ago about the the genetically modified corn/maize TC1507 produced by Pionner, an affiliate of DuPont. The company requested the authorization to cultivate the corn in the EU back in 2001 which contains ammonium glufosinate, a highly toxic herbicide. The European Court of Justice has now condemned the European Commission for delaying the procedure to authorize the cultivation of the corn which was apparently left to the side and forgotten. The Tribunal recently unearthed the 12 year old file, forcing the European Commission to submit the request to a vote by the EU's Environmental Ministers which is scheduled for the 13th December. If the countries do not come to a resolution, the use of the generically modified corn will have to be approved! :(

It seems that hardly any major news agency has reported this which is shocking but doesn't really surprise me.

The article is in French and I used Google translate below so it may be hard to understand

_http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/news/story/18801508

The condemnation of the European Commission, September 26 , the Court of Justice of the EU for " undue delay" in the process of considering an application for authorization culture , precipitated events . The Pioneer Group , a subsidiary of U.S. DuPont , an authorization request in 2001 to cultivate the fields of the EU 's GMO maize TC1507 resistant to several herbicides whose active ingredient is ammonium glufosonate , very toxic , denounce environmentalists. To date , only one GMO , Monsanto MON810 is cultivated in Europe . The German group BASF gave up his produce in the EU Amflora potato . Authorized for cultivation in 2010, it was a commercial failure.
Infographics What exactly are GMOs?

The judgment of the European Court exhumed the folder TC1507 , forgotten for 12 years, and has forced the European Commission to take proceedings by submitting this application for leave to vote culture of Environment Ministers of the EU. The next ministerial meeting is scheduled for December 13 . A qualified majority is needed to approve or reject the application for authorization of culture for the TC1507 . If states fail to agree, the European Commission will be obliged to authorize the cultivation on pain of breach by the European Court. The procedure has recently been amended to remove the requirement of the European Commission , but the request for authorization of Pioneer 's prior to this reform , and it is the former procedure applies.

"The GMO meets all the criteria of the EU"

"Member States will be their responsibilities ," said Thursday a European source familiar with the matter . But the European Commission may also act by altering its recommendation , supported Greenpeace. "The judgment of the court condemned the interruption of the proceedings , but it does not prevent the European Commission to reconsider its position and decide not to recommend approval culture to reflect studies showing the risks the use of glufosinate , "said environmentalist organization. "The European Commission will decide next week what legal way should the court's decision ," said Thursday during a press briefing , Frederic Vincent, spokesman for Health Commissioner , Tonio Borg, in charge GMOs. " It will take nothing in terms of authorization of culture," he said. "The Commission has decided to turn to the European Union to rule on the request for approval of 1507 maize ."

The spokesman did not rule out the possibility of a change in the recommendation of the European Commission , but he insisted that "the EFSA ( European Agency for Food Safety ) confirmed that GMO meets all the standards of health and environment of the EU. " The EU has still not ruled on the application for renewal of the authorization of MON810 culture . Lack of decision, GM maize continues to be grown in Spain and Portugal , but safeguards were adopted in 2008 to ban its cultivation in France , Austria, Hungary, Greece, Romania , Bulgaria and Luxembourg.

(L'essentiel Online/AFP)

Couldn't find the original article on AFP (Agence France-Presse)...

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

"The GMO meets all the criteria of the EU"

But of course. When Big Agra and Big Pharma call for help to fill their pockets by making the population sick, the EU is just too happy to oblige.
But that's just my opinion ;)

 

[Eboard10]

Here's an English article on the subject which was published today:

EU backs new GM corn for planting

_http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11152703

The European Union moved closer to approving the cultivation of a second genetically modified corn on the continent despite years of objections by environmental groups and widespread apprehension about GMO food among European consumers.

Wednesday's approval by the EU Commission, the bloc's executive arm, now sends the plan to approve DuPont-Pioneer Maize 1507 to the EU's 28 member nations for consideration and could lead to a decision on the issue within months.

EU member states have sharply diverging views on the cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms commonly known as GMOs and decisions have been often been deadlocked for years. A continued stalemate over the next few months would throw the issue back to the Commission, which could then make the decision itself.

Since DuPont Pioneer had first applied for approval to commercialise the cultivation in Europe 12 years ago, it welcomed the latest step.

"1507 maize meets all EU regulatory requirements and should be approved for cultivation without further delay," the company said in a statement.

Environmental groups sharply criticised the EU Commission for opening the door to further GMO cultivation in Europe.

"Instead of banning this toxic maize (corn) and protecting both consumers and the environment, the European Commission has buckled once again to industry pressure," said Mute Schimpf of Friends of the Earth Europe.

It said the GMO corn was highly toxic and would harm the delicate habitat of butterflies and moths.

DuPont Pioneer, however, insists that its 1507 corn is grown throughout the world and had received no less that 7 positive safety reports from the EU.

The EU has strict guidelines on authorising and informing consumers about foods containing GMOs a policy that has caused problems for producers of genetically modified seeds such as the US-based Monsanto, which are used to less stringent rules around the world.

At the moment, Monsanto's MON 810 corn is the only GMO farm product cultivated in the EU, and even then, it only represents 1.35 percent of the EU's corn cultivation.

That contrasts sharply with the widespread use of GMOs in North and South America.

The European Commission also proposed to change the way that GMOs could be introduced in Europe, allowing individual member states to reject their cultivation based on a series of social or political grounds even if it has been approved throughout the EU on a scientific basis.

 

[Eboard10]

Another sad day for Europeans and amazingly, this is almost completely ignored by the media:

_http://www.testbiotech.de/en/node/940

EU Commission allows SmartStax for food and feed

Maize 1507 for cultivation to be decided soon
Wednesday, 6. November 2013
Brussels / Munich

The EU Commission today authorised the controversial genetically engineered maize SmartStax for food and feed. The decision was taken despite thousands of protest mails being sent to the Commission. Testbiotech and experts from EU Member States have previously pointed out many flaws in the risk assessment performed by Monsanto, DowAgroSciences and the European Food Safety Authority, (EFSA). Testbiotech will now file an official complaint against the Commission decision.

Although SmartStax maize is genetically engineered to produce six insecticidal proteins and is resistant to two herbicides, the combinatorial effects between residues from spraying and the insecticidal toxins were never investigated. Neither has EFSA requested a feeding study with the plants to investigate any effects on health.

“The import of this maize into the EU does not have any advantage for farmers, consumers or animal health. On the contrary, there are considerable remaining doubts about the safety of these plants, which are containing a mix of several toxins”, says Christoph Then for Testbiotech. “The EU food and feed market becomes a place to dispose risky products that nobody wants.”

Maize imports from US into the EU dropped from more than 800.000 tons in 2011 to around 40.000 tons in 2012. This reduction in market volume was due to conditions such as a drought in 2012. Import figures are likely to increase again in 2013, since the US expects a much higher yield this year. Around 90 percent of the maize grown in the US is genetically engineered.

Together with SmartStax and another maize called Powercore which were authorised today, a total of 49 genetically engineered events have so far been authorised in the EU for usage in food and feed. Nearly all of them produce insecticidal proteins and/ or are resistant to herbicides. Genetically engineered soybeans are the most important crop for import. EU food producers do in general avoid products from genetically engineered plants, but large amounts are used in animal feed.

The Commission also decided to send genetically engineered maize from Pioneer (technical name 1507) for a vote to the Council of the Member States. Industry is pushing to allow this maize for cultivation in the EU. It is commercialised by Dupont/Pioneer and Dow AgroSciences. The maize is made resistant to herbicide glufosinate and is producing an insecticidal protein. This maize was also used for the development of SmartStax.

 

[SeekinTruth]

Yeah, I saw this in local news yesterday. Sad day, indeed.

 

[l apprenti de forgeron]

Really sad, and no party or institution seems to stop those destroyers of Earth and human life. Again, as has been said in the forum, this demonstrates the need (sad too) for comets. Normal people have been trampled and cornered and need help from Nature to ward psychopaths, since we could not doing that for ourselves.