By Philippa Jones
European Union experts will decide on Monday whether imports of
Herculex RW, a genetically modified maize variety developed by the
multinational seed company Pioneer, should be allowed into Europe.
Representatives from the 27 EU member states will vote on Monday on
whether to authorise imports of GM maize 59122.

The maize, modified with a protein known as 'Bt' to resist the maize
rootworm, will be assessed for use in food, feed and processing.

The Herculex RW trait received regulatory approval for US cultivation
in 2005 and was first available in corn hybrids on the US market for the
2006 growing season.

The trait has also been approved for import and for feed and food use
in nine other countries, namely Australia, New Zealand, Canada, China,
Japan, Korea, Mexico, Philippines and Taiwan.

Herculex received a positive assessment from the European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA) in March this year, but certain EU states such as Austria
and Luxembourg known for their GM-scepticism may block the vote.

The European Green Party is urging member states to vote against the
authorisation, claiming there are "serious and legitimate health concerns
about the GM maize".

"The feeding studies submitted by the company show considerable
changes in the blood parameters and in liver weight in rats fed with this GM
variety," said Monica Frassoni, member of the Italian Green Party, who
accused EFSA of not taking such factors into account.

Many of her fellow countrymen seemingly have the same distrust of GM
crops. Representatives from the Italian farmers' union Coldiretti protested
in front of the Italian parliament this week to demand an immediate halt to
plans to test GM versions of traditional Italian crops such as GM olives and
tomatoes.

They also urged parliament to protect Italy's burgeoning organic food
industry from GM contamination - concerned that demands for GM food will
drop considerably if there are doubts about GM contamination.

Similar concerns were expressed in the UK this week when a delegation
representing 70 organic businesses urged UK environment minister David
Miliband not to increase the current threshold for GM contamination of
organic food from 0.1 per cent to 0.9 per cent.

The organic secor is a growing business globally and aside from the
health risks cited by some, farmers and organic food manufactuers are
worried that increased use of GMOs could threaten their industry through
contamination as many consumers buy organic food to avoid GMOs.

According to a study published recently in the Journal of the Science
of Food and Agriculture, the world market for certified organic foods was
estimated at $23-25 bn (?17.3-18.8 bn) in 2003 with annual growth of about
19 per cent.

Figures released this month by Eurostat claimed that only 1.8 per cent
of agricultural land in the EU-15 was cultivated with organic crops in 1998,
but by 2005 this figure has increased to 4.1 per cent, while 3.9 per cent of
the agricultural area in the EU-25 was devoted to organics by 2005.


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