By Sybille de La Hamaide
France risks losing its seat among top food producers if it rejects
genetically modified (GMO) crops altogether in an upcoming law on biotech
organisms, French farmers and producers said on Wednesday.
Orama, the lobby gathering French grain and oilseed growers, joined by
seedmakers and several politicians, warned against "peddlers of fear" which
fight against the use of GMO at a time when most other big producers adopt
the technology. The call is part of a wide government-led debate on the
future of France's environment policy during which the fate of GMOs in the
country has been a subject of heated discussions.

France and many other European countries, pressured by reluctant
consumers, has long opposed a widespread use of GMO crops, contrary to other
big producers such as the United States which has a far higher take-up of
GMO technology.

"Today there are 102 million hectares sown with GMO seeds around the
world. What we fear is that if France rejects GMOs we will be left behind
and be dependent on other countries technology," said Orama's president
Philippe Pinta.

"If we discourage research we doom our future," he added.

French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said last month that the
government wanted to continue allowing laboratory research on GMOs but
envisaged to ban both the sale and cultivation of GMO crops.

The idea was welcomed by green groups, opposed to the technology they
say could prove dangerous to human health, but it was widely criticized by
farmers who say France needs to keep up research, which also implies field
tests. "If we want to fight against the U.S. domination we have to give
ourselves the means to do so," said Jean-Yves Le Deaut, head of a
parliamentary commission on GMOs.

Under pressure from skepticism among ordinary consumers towards
biotech foods - polls show that between 75 and 80 percent are opposed to
GMOs - France has only granted approval for one type of GMO crop, produced
by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto, to be cultivated for commercial purposes.

So far, just 22,000 hectares - 1.5 percent of France's cultivated
land - have been sown with GMO maize this year. Farmers also stress a
contradiction between banning production and/or research on biotech crops
and allowing the import of food products that contain GMOs.

"The French will end up being the laughing stock because they'll be
eating what they refuse allowing their farmers to grow," said Christian
Pees, president of France's seedmakers group Euralis.


[uk.reuters.com]