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

Two influential European Union commissioners stood on opposite sides of the
fence on Wednesday as they discussed the vexed issue of use of genetically
modified (GMO) foods in Europe, April 2006 btory by Jeremy Smith.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, known as one of the more GMO-wary
members of the 25-strong executive arm, hinted there was no particular need
or hurry to promote GMO crops.

Given poor consumer demand and the low level of acceptance for biotech food,
which Dimas said was unlikely to rise, farmers would continue to grow
conventional or organic varieties.

"We must, therefore, persist in looking at the means to continually improve
these varieties," he told a two-day conference to discuss separation of GMO
crops from conventional varieties.

"We should not ignore the use of upgraded conventional varieties as an
alternative to GM crops, particularly where similar characteristics can be
introduced without genetic modification," he said.

His fellow Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, responsible for agriculture,
took a different view -- saying, effectively, GMOs were here to stay and
Europeans should get used to them.

"Whatever our personal views may be, the use of GM technology is spreading,
as is the use of GM crops," she said.

"It is already completely legal to grow certain GM crops within the European
Union and the list of permitted crops will almost certainly become longer if
we look years ahead. GM farming has arrived," she told the conference.

Their comments come a week before the Commission holds an internal debate on
GMO policy, an area that has sparked numerous disagreements in the past. Its
last debate, in March 2005, concluded that Europe should press ahead with
more GMO approvals -- if necessary without the blessing of most EU
governments.

The Commission is itself divided on biotech policy. In the past, five
commissioners have dealt with GMOs: representing agriculture, trade,
research, environment and food safety.

CROP SEPARATION

That wasn't the only area where Dimas and Fischer Boel appeared to disagree
on biotech crops.

On physically separating organic, traditional and GMO crops -- a concept
known as coexistence -- Dimas, responsible for processing applications for
new GMOs for cultivation, was keen to stress that GMO crops should not harm
the environment.

"...I am keen to ensure that the environment is protected from potential
risks arising from the cultivation of GMOs. Coexistence measures, on top of
the benefits they provide in ... commercial terms, can play a role in this
respect," he said.

But coexistence had nothing at all to do with the environment, Fischer Boel
said.

"It's very important to understand clearly how our policy choices about
coexistence fit into the structure of the European Union's overall GMO
policy," she told the conference.

"Within the logic of that structure, coexistence policy is not about the
safety of people, animals or the environment. It is not a tool for managing
risks to health or to the environment," she said.

[www.planetark.com]

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