The Environmental Protection Committee of the European Parliament (EP) today did not support the European Commission's (EC) proposal to allow EU member states to decide for themselves whether to grow and import genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for use in human and animal nutrition, and the final a decision on this will be made by the EP at its session on October 28.
By a large majority of votes (47 to three), the Committee rejected the EC's proposal, with the explanation that leaving the member states to decide for themselves whether they want to grow GMOs would call into question the EU's single market, France Press reported.
"Countries are concerned that the Commission's proposal could lead to the re-introduction of border controls between countries that support the import of GMOs and those that oppose them," the Committee said, adding that such controls would constitute a serious breach of the "sacred" single market rules that ensure equal business conditions throughout the EU.
"For us, the existing laws must be respected, and the member countries should make the decision on the import of GMOs at the EU level, and not introduce national bans," said the president of the committee, Giovanni La Via.
In accordance with the EU's decision from the beginning of the year that each individual EU member has the right to request an exemption from the cultivation of GMOs, 3 of the 19 EU members requested it by October 28, when the deadline expired. These demands refer to the ban on the cultivation of Monsanto's "MON 810" corn, the only GMO commercial crop allowed to be grown in the EU.
The import of a large number of GMO products, which are used only for animal feed and industrial purposes, but not for human consumption, is now allowed.
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