Brussels, Belgium
July 3, 2002

During the plenary vote in Strasbourg today, MEPs confirmed the unimplementable positions of the Environment Committee on two proposed Regulations - GM Food and Feed (Scheele report) and GM Labelling and Traceability (Trakatellis report).

The majority of MEPs followed the position of the PSE rapporteur Mrs Scheele and the Green Party on
Food/Feed and Traceability/Labelling that will discriminate against the new technology, reduce consumer choice, disrupt trade with third countries, while adding nothing to safety.

Simon Barber, of EuropaBio considers that "The arbitrary reduction to a 0.5% threshold instead of 1% as proposed by the Commission is unrealistic." Cross pollination in the farming environment and some mixing in the storage, distribution and processing stages will be inevitable, so these low levels are impossible to achieve. 

Parliament further failed to recognise that "adventitiously present" trace levels of GM products assessed as safe by European Scientific Committees, and approved and commercialised in third countries, might be adventitiously present in seed and commodity in the EU. Because of the de facto moratorium, the approval process in the EU has stopped, while the rest of the world evaluates, authorises, and cultivates new products that are bringing significant environmental and economic benefits.

Parliament also decided to add another layer of red tape by voting for amendments that undermines the "one door one key" approach proposed by the Commission. Such a procedure would provide excellence in safety assessment and a uniform and transparent Community procedure for all applications - a regulatory base that would provide a higher level of confidence for European citizens.

The plenary supported the Commission's proposal to label GM derived products that are identical to their non-GM counterparts. Since no DNA or novel protein of GMO origin is present in these groups of products, no scientific verification is possible and the system will be open to fraud.

"The ability of Green Biotech to contribute to the goal of Europe becoming the world's most competitive
knowedge-based economy, as set out in the "Life Sciences and Biotechnology Action Plan" is now in question. It is crucial that the Council of Ministers act to ensure that there is a future for green biotechnology in Europe." said Barber.

EuropaBio has almost 40 corporate members operating worldwide and 18 national biotechnology associations representing some 1000 SMEs involved in research and development, testing, manufacturing and distribution of biotechnology products. EuropaBio, the voice of European bioindustries, aims to be a promoting force for biotechnology and to present its proposals to industry, politicians, regulators, NGOs, and the public at large.