European verdict forces Spain to give openness
31/05/2010
Source: ansamed.info
MADRID - Spain is the only country in the European Union that produces genetically modified organisms (GMO) on a vast scale, 68% of GMO produced in the EU. So far the country had never published a list of terrains where these crops are grown experimentally.
Now, thanks to a verdict by the European Court of Justice, the Spanish government has been forced to make it easier to access data on the cultivation of GMO, as the environmental association Friends of Earth announced. In 2008 Spain grew 80,000 hectares of transgenic corn. In 2010, multinationals in the food sector are experimenting with genetically modified corn, beet and cotton on 64 locations, mainly in the regions of Aragon, Castile, Leon and Andalusia. ''Farmers have the right to be informed to be able to take measures against contamination and to avoid possible health damage'', the head of agriculture of the Friends of Earth association, David Sanchez, explained to the press.
The battle to reach this success started in 2004, when a farmer in the north of the French Alsace, Pierre Alzelvandre, asked his major in vain for information about the location of transgenic cultivations in the municipality. He wanted to study the possible effect of these cultivations on his own. The administration refused to give him the information, after which the farmer turned to the European Court of Justice.
The verdict of the European Court, from February 2009, reads that the location of experimental fields with transgenic crops must be made public. It underlines that the 2001 EU directive defends transparency in the liberalisation of GMO products. With this verdict in the hand, Spanish environmental organisations asked the government to apply the jurisprudence.
''The Bio-safety Commission'', the representative of Friends of Earth points out, ''has asked the legal services for their opinion to make sure that the government is forced to supply the requested information''. The fact that the information is now in the open ''ends 12 years of secrecy and helps farmers who can now demand to end dangerous experiments'', explained the head of the transgenic campaign of Greenpeace, Felipe Carrasco, in a statement to the newspaper '20 minutos'. Starting with the 'mapping' of GMO cultivations, the environmental associations will promote legal action.
They point out that the Spanish legislation only allows corn cultivation for food production and that Spain is the only EU country that produces genetically modified cereals on a large scale. They claim that there are no scientific guarantees for the safety of these products for consumer health and for the environment on the medium term. The ecologists denounce the lack of research on the possible environmental impact of experimental cultivations. (ANSAmed).
MADRID - Spain is the only country in the European Union that produces genetically modified organisms (GMO) on a vast scale, 68% of GMO produced in the EU. So far the country had never published a list of terrains where these crops are grown experimentally.
Now, thanks to a verdict by the European Court of Justice, the Spanish government has been forced to make it easier to access data on the cultivation of GMO, as the environmental association Friends of Earth announced. In 2008 Spain grew 80,000 hectares of transgenic corn. In 2010, multinationals in the food sector are experimenting with genetically modified corn, beet and cotton on 64 locations, mainly in the regions of Aragon, Castile, Leon and Andalusia. ''Farmers have the right to be informed to be able to take measures against contamination and to avoid possible health damage'', the head of agriculture of the Friends of Earth association, David Sanchez, explained to the press.
The battle to reach this success started in 2004, when a farmer in the north of the French Alsace, Pierre Alzelvandre, asked his major in vain for information about the location of transgenic cultivations in the municipality. He wanted to study the possible effect of these cultivations on his own. The administration refused to give him the information, after which the farmer turned to the European Court of Justice.
The verdict of the European Court, from February 2009, reads that the location of experimental fields with transgenic crops must be made public. It underlines that the 2001 EU directive defends transparency in the liberalisation of GMO products. With this verdict in the hand, Spanish environmental organisations asked the government to apply the jurisprudence.
''The Bio-safety Commission'', the representative of Friends of Earth points out, ''has asked the legal services for their opinion to make sure that the government is forced to supply the requested information''. The fact that the information is now in the open ''ends 12 years of secrecy and helps farmers who can now demand to end dangerous experiments'', explained the head of the transgenic campaign of Greenpeace, Felipe Carrasco, in a statement to the newspaper '20 minutos'. Starting with the 'mapping' of GMO cultivations, the environmental associations will promote legal action.
They point out that the Spanish legislation only allows corn cultivation for food production and that Spain is the only EU country that produces genetically modified cereals on a large scale. They claim that there are no scientific guarantees for the safety of these products for consumer health and for the environment on the medium term. The ecologists denounce the lack of research on the possible environmental impact of experimental cultivations. (ANSAmed).
