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EU authorizes import of GMO carnations
Posted by: Prof. Dr. M. Raupp (IP Logged)
Date: May 31, 2007 08:19PM
BRUSSELS - The European Union authorized Australian biotech company Florigene on Wednesday to import and market carnations whose color has been genetically modified, its Official Journal said in its latest edition.
The carnations will be allowed to enter EU-27 markets as cut flowers for distribution and sale to the general public. They will not be allowed to be grown and must be specially labeled.
"The words 'This product is a genetically modified organism' or 'This product is a genetically modified carnation', and the words 'not for human or animal consumption nor for cultivation' shall appear either on a label or in a document accompanying the product," the Journal said.
The application for EU approval was filed to the European Commission by Florigene, one of Australia's first biotechnology companies and part of the privately owned Suntory group.
Marketed as Florigene Moonlite, the flowers are modified to produce blue pigment and also carry a herbicide-resistant gene. The EU's import license will be valid for 10 years.
According to its Web site, Florigene developed the world's first mauve-colored carnation in 1996 and devotes much research on developing flowers that lack the blue color, specifically roses, carnations and chrysanthemums.
Ironically, carnations were the EU's last two authorizations of genetically modified (GMO) plants before it began its unofficial six-year moratorium on new GMO approvals. The flowers were modified to alter color and "improve vase life."
The EU decision is a rubberstamp procedure applied by the European Commission -- the EU's executive arm. It is permitted under a legal default process that kicks in when ministers are unable to agree among themselves after a period of three months.
Since then, even after the moratorium ended in early 2004 because of a default legal rubberstamp from the Commission, the EU's member countries have consistently clashed on new GMO authorizations and failed to reach consensus.
National governments have consistently clashed over biotech policy. They last agreed on a new GMO approval in 1998.
European consumers are well known for their wariness towards GMO foods but the biotech industry insists its products are safe and no different to conventional foods. Europe's hostility to GMO foods is unfounded, it says.
[uk.reuters.com]
The carnations will be allowed to enter EU-27 markets as cut flowers for distribution and sale to the general public. They will not be allowed to be grown and must be specially labeled.
"The words 'This product is a genetically modified organism' or 'This product is a genetically modified carnation', and the words 'not for human or animal consumption nor for cultivation' shall appear either on a label or in a document accompanying the product," the Journal said.
The application for EU approval was filed to the European Commission by Florigene, one of Australia's first biotechnology companies and part of the privately owned Suntory group.
Marketed as Florigene Moonlite, the flowers are modified to produce blue pigment and also carry a herbicide-resistant gene. The EU's import license will be valid for 10 years.
According to its Web site, Florigene developed the world's first mauve-colored carnation in 1996 and devotes much research on developing flowers that lack the blue color, specifically roses, carnations and chrysanthemums.
Ironically, carnations were the EU's last two authorizations of genetically modified (GMO) plants before it began its unofficial six-year moratorium on new GMO approvals. The flowers were modified to alter color and "improve vase life."
The EU decision is a rubberstamp procedure applied by the European Commission -- the EU's executive arm. It is permitted under a legal default process that kicks in when ministers are unable to agree among themselves after a period of three months.
Since then, even after the moratorium ended in early 2004 because of a default legal rubberstamp from the Commission, the EU's member countries have consistently clashed on new GMO authorizations and failed to reach consensus.
National governments have consistently clashed over biotech policy. They last agreed on a new GMO approval in 1998.
European consumers are well known for their wariness towards GMO foods but the biotech industry insists its products are safe and no different to conventional foods. Europe's hostility to GMO foods is unfounded, it says.
[uk.reuters.com]
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