Today the European Commission withdrew from its agenda the proposal to establish labeling thresholds for trace amounts of EU approved GM seed in conventional seed. At the same time, the Commission moved forward in approving the addition of 17 GM maize varieties to the EU Common Seed Catalogue, allowing the sale of these varieties in all 25 EU Member States.

“It is regrettable that, once again, the Commission has chosen to ignore its responsibility to establish a common European legal basis for the setting of thresholds for trace levels of GM seed in conventional seed. EuropaBio and other stakeholders are disappointed, having worked with the Commission over five years to establish practical and workable thresholds." said Simon Barber, Director of PBU, EuropaBio. "It is economically unsustainable and will unnecessarily harm the competitiveness of the European industry and its customers, the European farmers community".

"However, we do welcome the Commission’s addition of 17 approved GM maize varieties to the European Common Seed Catalogue, allowing more of Europe's farmers to see for themselves the farm level and environmental benefits of this technology.

"Absolute purity is just not possible in the production of seed, and time and again, the seed industry and farmers in Europe face extraordinary legal uncertainty because the Commission has not been able to agree on practical and workable thresholds. To allow for the present situation of unrealistic, unclear and legally disputable national legislation to remain is irresponsible." added Simon Barber. “It’s ironic that farmers may legally grow fields of GM crops, yet thresholds for trace levels of these in seed have not been established.”

EuropaBio urges the Commission to fill this gap in the European GM regulatory package by establishing clear, practical and workable thresholds, as a matter of priority.

EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, has 35 corporate members operating worldwide and 23 national biotechnology associations representing some 1200 small and medium sized enterprises involved in research and development, testing, manufacturing and distribution of biotechnology products.