Proposal on national GMO bans rejected

In a plenary session on 28 October, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) rejected a draft law which would have allowed member states to decide whether or not to import genetically modified organisms (GMO) for use in food and animal feed on their territory.

The Italian MEP Giovanni La Via, chair of the environment committee, said: “Today’s vote gave a clear signal to the European Commission. This proposal could turn on its head what has been achieved with the single market and the customs union.”

The proposal, which would amend existing EU legislation to enable member states to restrict or prohibit the use of EU-approved genetically modified food and feed on their territory, was first suggested by the EU Commission on 22 April 2015. The EU Commission said they will not withdraw the draft law but the legislative proposal will be discussed further by EU ministers.

The Commission had suggested that the draft law should be modelled on another EU law which allows member states to ban the cultivation of EU-approved GMOs on their territory.

Recently, the Commission reported that 19 out of 28 states have asked to keep GMOs out of their territory including France, Austria and Hungary. Proponents of GM crops include Spain, Europe’s largest producer of GM crops, the UK, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

GMO trade as opposed to cultivation, which necessarily takes place on a member state’s territory, crosses borders meaning that a national “sales and use” ban could be difficult or impossible to enforce without reintroducing border checks on imports.

“I believe that this proposal could have negative consequences for agriculture in the EU, which is heavily dependent on protein supplies from GMO sources. It could also have indirect negative effects on imports. Finally, there are concerns over whether this proposal could even be implemented, because there are no border controls in the EU”, said Giovanni La Via.

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