IN Report - E35026Page 1 of 2
Voluntary Report - public distribution
Date:2/10/2005
GAIN Report Number:E35026
E35026
EU-25
Biotechnology
Twenty EU Regions Defend Right to Ban Biotech Production
2005
Approved by:
Norval Francis
U.S. Mission to the EU
Prepared by:
Stan Cohen
Report Highlights:
20 EU regions met in Florence, Italy on February 4 to sign a charter proclaiming their right to declare themselves "GMO-free" regions. The regions intend to work within the current EU legal framework to ban biotech production. This could mark a shift in strategy stemming from previous setbacks. In 2003, Upper Austria's attempt to impose a ban met with failure when the EU Commission ruled that Austria failed to provide sufficient scientific evidence to justify a ban. Similarly, the EU Commission has raised legal concerns about Germany's new coexistence law. Josef Stockinger, Upper Austria's agriculture minister commented "... that in Berlin recently, Agriculture Commissioner Marianne Fischer-Boel recognized that there are insecurity and doubts related to the coexistence of crops. Without the intervention of the Commission, nothing serious can be done."
Includes PSD Changes: No
Includes Trade Matrix: No
Unscheduled Report
Brussels USEU [BE2]
[E3]
Twenty EU regions met in Florence on February 4 to sign to a charter proclaiming their right to declare themselves “GMO-free” regions. The organizers intend to work within the current EU legal framework to ban GM production in their regions. This could mark a shift in strategy precipitated by previous setbacks. In 2003, Upper Austria’s attempts to impose a ban on GM production met with failure the EU Commission ruled that Austria failed to provide sufficient scientific evidence to justify a ban. Likewise, the Commission has raised legal concerns with Germany’s new coexistence law. Josef Stockinger, Upper Austria’s agriculture minister and a founder of the regional network commented “…that in Berlin recently, Agriculture Commissioner Marianne Fischer-Boel recognized that there are insecurity and doubts related to the coexistence of crops. Without the intervention of the Commission, nothing serious can be done.”
The network of 20 GMO free regions is comprised of: Italy (Sardinia, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Lazio, Bolzano); France (Aquitaine, Brittany, Ile-de-France, Poitou-Charentes, Limousin); Austria (Upper Austria, Salzburg, Steiermark, Burgenland); the United Kingdom (Wales, the Highlands and Islands of Scotland); Spain (the Basque area); Germany (Schleswig-Holstein), and Greece (Drama-Kavala-Xanthi).
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UNCLASSIFIEDUSDA Foreign Agricultural Service