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

Hungary's parliament has overwhelmingly backed legislation which severely
restricts the planting of genetically modified crops (GMOs), November 2006
by Nick Thorpe, BBC News.

The Act came despite a plea from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for
more liberal legislation.

Under the law, a buffer zone 400m (1,320ft) wide will have to exist between
any GMOs and adjacent fields.

The written agreement of all landowners within that buffer zone will also be
needed for planting to go ahead.

Farmers, environmentalists and scientists who oppose the introduction of
GMOs worked closely with parliamentary deputies from both the governing and
opposition parties on this legislation.

Critics of the legislation - led by biotech firms, some farmers and a vocal
group of scientists in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences - say such
stringent conditions will make it almost impossible to plant GMOs in
Hungary.

Hungary, like Austria, Greece and Poland, already has a moratorium in place
against one particular genetically-modified organism which is permitted
elsewhere in the European Union.

The Act is seen as a way of pre-empting expected pressure from the European
Commission to end that moratorium.

Hungary is the second-largest exporter of maize seed in the EU, second only
to France.

Supporters of the legislation argued that the strong position of Hungarian
grain on the European market was partly due to its label as a GMO-free
product.

www.checkbiotech.org

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