www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Romania may find itself excluded from the European Union markets and even
have difficulties selling its genetically modified products locally, because
of delays in complying with European food traceability and labeling
regulations, October 2006 by Christine Lescu.

Experts say its increasing use of genetically modified crops also hinders
organic agriculture, an area in which Romania has the potential to be
competitive in the EU market.

After farmers this year cultivated almost 130,000 hectares (321,236 acres)
of GM soybeans, Romania became the single biggest producer of this product
in Europe, according to the environmental campaign group Greenpeace.

The environmental organization in 2004 ranked Romania 11th in a table of the
world's biggest producers of GM crops.

A large percentage of the GM soybean crop was also planted with
non-certified seed, meaning its origins cannot be identified or traced.

The Romanian Ministry of Agriculture has announced a ban on the cultivation
of GM soy as of January 1, 2007, but many say Bucharest has done too little,
and too late, to address Europe's concerns about the kind of food coming out
of Romania.

In 2002, it adopted the first measures to regulate GM products, when it told
manufacturers of GM products to declare this information on packages and
labels.

But results have been patchy. A poor level of compliance reflects the lack
of interest in the subject felt by Romanian consumers - unlike the situation
in Western Europe.

Local consumer groups say few Romanians feel eating GM food products is
risky. "If we avoided eating everything bad, we'd die of starvation," is
shoppers' stock response.

In February this year, meanwhile, the government made further moves. Until
then, cultivation of GM soybeans had been totally unregulated.

Now the government is trying to bring food production standards into closer
harmony with EU environmental rules. It has ordered cuts in the production
of GM herbicide resistant soybeans, of which the EU does not approve, and
introduced a monitoring and control system for GM crops.

But so far there is little sign of progress with these initiatives either.
This year the production of GM soybean increased - from about 65,000 to
130,000 hectares.

Experts say the authorities are unable to cope with the growth of illegally
cultivated genetically modified crops.

The problem is that farmers have strong incentives to grow GM soybeans.
Normally, combating weeds and beetles is time consuming and expensive. With
the cultivation of resistant varieties, they can combat pests more easily.

The Garda Nationala de Mediu, National Environmental Guard, the body put in
charge of monitoring compliance with the new rules, has handed out 23
warnings and imposed 15 fines this year. But it says tracking down all the
culprits is hard.

Apart from dealing with known GM crop growers, the body is struggling to
halt the activities of those who buy seeds from producers and sell them on.

Florian Udrea, of the Garda Nationala, says checking this activity is an
almost hopeless task. "Out of carelessness or ill will, some people don't
declare where the seeds from their crops came from," he said.

Some farmers keep quiet about their GM crops because they do not even know
they have planted GM seeds. Cases of contamination of crops with GM
varieties are frequent.

Agricultural consultant Dragos Dima says Romania will pay a price for
failing to put in place effective systems to test and control soybean
production from cultivation to consumption and monitor the presence of GM
seed.

"If Romania does not adopt the traceability and labeling measures required
by the EU legislation, I am afraid that starting with 2007, all its products
containing soybean will be restricted from entering EU markets," Dima said.

This is a serious threat to farmers, he added, as most food products contain
at least traces of soybean. Romania could also find its access to structural
funds for agricultural projects restricted.

In a few months, Romania is about to join a club that has strict standards
on the GM issue and in which public opinion is on the alert.

Several EU member states, including Germany and Austria, ban the cultivation
and import of GM seeds outright.

EU legislation does not ban GM products altogether but it insists on strict
rules concerning the release of GM seeds into the environment and the
traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms, GMOs, and GMOs
in food and animal feed.

Only seeds approved by the European Food Safety Authority may be traded
within the EU.

These tight European mechanisms reflect many scientists' continuing concerns
about genetic modification. Some worry that GM organisms may yet have
unforseeable and unpredictable consequences on the environment and on
health.

Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini, of the University of Caen, voiced some of
those concerns, felt especially with regard to Romanian GM products, to
Romanian public radio.

"The soybeans grown in Romania are treated with a very powerful pesticide
named Roundup Ready, which has toxic effects on human placenta and embryos,"
he said in a recent interview.

"Roundup Ready is used to destroy weeds and parasites attacking soya crops
but also destroys every other plant nearby, damaging the environment," said
Seralini. "Roundup Ready genetically engineered soya is not approved for
growing in the EU."

Dragos Dima says it may take Romania many years to put its agricultural
house in order.

"The country will have to decontaminate itself from unapproved GM varieties
and put in place working systems on the release of GM organisms and on food
labeling," he said.

"But the decontamination process is likely to take years. Romania may also
become a test case to see whether GM crop-plant decontamination is possible
at all."

[www.ens-newswire.com]

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