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EU Blocks France's Ban of Monsanto's GM Maize
redletterdave writes with an update to news from a few months ago that France had banned the growing of Monsanto's genetically modified corn. After reviewing the evidence France submitted in support of the ban, the European Food Safety Authority has now rejected it. An official opinion (PDF) stated that they "could not identify any new science-based evidence indicating that maize MON 810 cultivation in the EU poses a significant and imminent risk to the human and animal health or the environment."
...that MON 180 ~didn't~ pose a health risk, either; more research is probably needed for both parties. The French are not big eaters of corn, anyways.
No, no sig. Really.
ThePromenader
10 years from now, and it will be Monsanto maize everywhere. Looks like USA corp found something else to extort people about.
It was disturbing when it was restricted to just the USA, now it goes over here.
.. Amaizing
What about people not wanting massive use of round-up chemicals, small farmers being sued out of existence, and one corporation monopolising the entire seed supply?
That's why I bought a Saturn.
If I express sceptisism about the EFSA and its science based conclusions does that make me an antiscience bible thumper?
Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
"A significant imminent risk" seems more like the standard you would use for something that is used for a very short term isolated solution to emergency situations, not something that will become part of the ecosystem and diet for decades to come. It amazes me that long-term effects are routinely considered so unimportant by governments, but my guess is it comes down to who has the most money behind them.
Not because the EU overturned the ban, but because the EU can overrule national decisions in such important matters, and a vast majority of other matters in almost all aspects of life.
French authorities may or may not be right about not trusting Monsanto's GMOs, I am not qualified to have an opinion on the subject, but what I see here is that, in effect, they only have a consulting role since a another body in Brussels disagreed and decided otherwise. That's what you get when you relinquish your national sovereignty to a half-assed de-facto federal government that doesn't speak its name.
It's the same for the ability to lower certain taxes, doing protectionism, devaluing the currency they no longer have control of, and a whole slew of important and less important things that define an independent nation. EU member states don't have any real say over these things anymore. That's why I'm amazed to see people in the streets of France celebrate the election of their new prez, hoping for a brighter future with him, when in reality he's just a figurehead with almost no power to do anything meaningful.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
When somebody is trying to sell a herbal medicine or sweetener that has been used naturally for ages they are required to show scientific evidence that it's not harmfull. When monsanto is trying to sell genetically modified seeds a country is required to show scientific evidence that it is harmful.
Something does not compute?
but it could get worse: See The Windup Girl
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
Remember. 7 billion people. Norman Borlaug:
"some of the environmental lobbyists of the Western nations are the salt of the earth, but many of them are elitists. They've never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for fifty years, they'd be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were trying to deny them these things".
Somehow, the media is hooked onto the theory that GM modified crops will make us all Zombies.
That is not the problem. I really doubt that these modifications will create crops which will cause health problems.
The actual problem is licensing and economics.
A seed is a thing which cannot be contained. If you neighbor has a crop, seeds will come to you farm.
If its a resilient crop, it may dominate too.
And then they lawyers come with their army, and drag you to court. How many small farmers can afford to fight.
Yes, there will be farmers who will willfully cheat, but right now the licensing model, and the law does not recognize this difference.
To be frank, GM crops can actually help coping with food shortage, but the licensing model has made something which is a boon, a bane.
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
"GM modified crops will make us all Zombies"
No they're concerned that a bug in the design will crash the system.
Essentially they make major changes to crops that would take evolution centuries to make. They don't tests those changes for centuries, so any faults will come out later. Any major fault can cause a collapse in the food supply which would be deadly to Europe.
They represent a major risk and really the GM lobby's glibness, and willful ignorance of the risk is the real danger here. As for the EU it doesn't have the authority to declare farming safe, it only has the authority to declare it unsafe. They're there to enforce MINIMUM standards below which food supply cannot drop, not 'UPPER' standards above which a country can't insist is met.
It's like the EU banning Bio food because you can't prove it's better than other food.
They have very limited powers to do with internal EU market, and they seem to be abusing that power for corporate benefit.
It is quite amazing how europe rule my country! I did not vote for any european politics, that's quite a problem...
As I heard in French news a few month ago, It was planned that Monsanto will won at EU. The plan for this year was that. It's almost impossible with a court decision in May to buy and grow seeds for this year in France. Everyone who want to plant corn has already bought real corn seeds for 2012 so France won almost one year.
that the Estados Unidos had that kind of pull over there.
If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
Assuming you're talking about the infamous Canadian case where "small farmer" Percy Whatshisface claimed round-up ready seed blew onto his fields cultivating many acres (this despite being them "terminator" seeds that do not reproduce and an admission from the fellow who illegally sold him the seed), you need to get some facts straight:
Yes, Monsanto is an evil transnational who aims to control the world's food supply.
No, Percy Whatshisface is not an examplary hero of our times; which is why Percy was convicted of illegally growing Monsanto seed to which he had no agreement with Monsanto to grow, whatever the morality of it may be.
it’s the Monsanto assholes. They don’t just walk over dead bodies. They *don’t do business* if it doesn’t involve walking over dead bodies.
Seriously Eli Lilly, the MAFIAA and Microsoft COMBINED look like fluffy playschool pussies in comparison.
Most scientists I know refer to it as maize when publishing papers, since this is a website that's billed as "News for Nerds", I'd say the use of maize is quite appropriate.
The article topic is outside of the US, so maize is appropriate. Go back to your parent's basement, close the door and please stay inside your tiny little US-centric world.
The issue is that the ban in France was even overturned by their own courts as not being scientifically based. They then tried again to get it banned throughout the entire EU and failed again.
Here is a quote;"
EuropaBio, the European biotech industry group, urged French leaders to decide "whether they want to regain their position as a leader of agricultural innovation or support an anti-science agenda that weakens Europe's competitiveness" after a judgment on Monday from Paris's highest court.
You might also want to check this out. Notice how many countries have approved the corn.
Here is an interesting piece of information from this article;
“The new ban is not justified by scientific evidence,” John Combest, a spokesman for Monsanto, said in a e-mail today. The company does not market MON810 in France because “we seek planting where we have broad farmer and government support,” Combest said.
Now why would France want to ban something not even marketed in their country? Perhaps it is that they want to protect their own seed industry at the expense of growers in other EU countries.
Take a look at this article. The EU has yet to order France to lift the ban and nothing will happen till after the election and any new government has shown its intentions. That has not happened.
To summarize, the EU reviewed the corn last year and found no issues. France banned the corn, Their own courts overturned that ban. France banned it again. France applied to get the ban applied to all EU countries. The EU declined. That is where we stand today. The French ban is still in effect but there will be no EU ban.
People should really start to investigate Monsanto and their ties and how they basically are a psychopathic monster ruining everything. The massive death of bees around the world which has recently been linked to Monsanto/Bayer is just one example. The massive suicides in India is another. The criminal actions in Canada where they prosecuted farmers who didn't buy Monsanto's crap but had some of the crop in their fields because the wind blew it over from their neighbours. The fact that in Mexico despite of proactive action of the Mexican government, ALL original Maize strains have been infected with Monsanto genes.
Monsanto is an abomination.
They're calling it maize because, in Europe, "corn" refers generally to livestock feed.
.: Semper Absurda
you cant even ban what you know is bad for everyone. i don't like Monsanto, i have a bad opinion of them. i would be more agreeable with GM crops if they were properly tested and properly approved. not approved before testing, and not putting it in the food supply without testing. now the stuff cant even be banned? YOU WILL EAT GM FOOD! sad sad world...if there is more to the story, they should share, not act as if they are too elite. this is how the revolutions in most countries started. the political peoples not talking to the people, and doing whatever they wanted anyway. but it doesn't matter, 90% will just lay back and take it, that's what the high levels of fluoride do...
They're calling it maize because, in Europe, "corn" refers generally to wheat.
TFIFY
US large companies, which actually rule the US government, became the new face of evil. Their "paid puppets" like Barosso are trying hard to make company's life easier. The EU was last barrier for GM growing. Now this barrier will go down and next supply of US capitalism will enter the second most important market. This supply is full (like always) with bad (for normal people) things. Almost 100 years ago US businessmen brought to Europe new diseases on vines cropping, bugs that weren't present before and who knows what.
US admired by Jules Verne became the empire of evil, because of these companies. While there are still smart people living there the moral of its companies and government is tilted into weird directions. What happened to democracy and are this smart people silent and suppressed? I bet on their conscience to improve the situation. US should be No. 1 again otherwise someone else will take their No. 1 place as generator of wellness and success... Too pity for the EU... It'll turn into US follower instead of partner.
The world's largest corporations became the world's biggest problem. Good bye world!
now that maize planting season is over, the decision is more-less worthless.
and by the next season, there will be another ban.
Cultivation and hybridisation is not GM.
Anyway, France will ignore the ban on their ban and still ban GM corn.
As they should.
"could not identify any new science-based evidence indicating that maize MON 810 cultivation in the EU poses a significant and imminent risk to the human and animal health or the environment."
Boy, if that doesn't sound like a public statement bought and paid for by Monsanto...and with their activities elsewhere, I have little reason to believe otherwise.
Their turning people into Sheep, and they are the Shepherds! Monsanto is truly the definition of Evil.. if we don't stop them soon, they will certainly stop us! Our soil, and ecology life gets destroyed by these people, all over the world.. are they the real Illuminati, but in reality named Monsanto?
They bought out the research firm which said they were responsible for the bee population Disorder. That should fix it, right?
Maize is an English word. The word corn can refer to a number of things in English. These days it normally means maize, but it was traditionally used to refer to cereal grains grown in England such as wheat, barley, rye and oats. The compound word barleycorn means "a grain of barley", not "a mixture of barley and maize".
What exactly has Microsoft done that's equivalent to murder?
No scientific evidence? How about this book that references hundreds of studies about how toxic genetically engineered food is:
Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods
Any scientist that even tries to come forward with damning evidence immediately has their career ended, and can never receive funding again. Watch the "Scientists Under Attack" documentary to see examples of how powerful Monsanto is.
How about this venn diagram of how Monsanto occupies some of highest places in Federal Government:
http://www.geke.us/MonsantoVenn.html
And why should you need an agreement to grow any particular seed?
That's such a huge lie. Feeding people is not a question of lacking food but rather lacking a reason to distribute it. If we wanted to, we could already feed every single person on this goddamn planet. This is just another "think of the chidren" button to be pressed to make the mindless masses do as they're told.
Information about what you are eating is what the protection of consumers that the EU is keen on is partly about.
What I read from this is that Monsanto controls the EU and that France is no longer a sovereign nation.
Sure sounds like they wanna keep the European Union together, doesn't it?
This is gonna get awfully interesting.
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[...] could not identify any new science-based evidence indicating that maize MON 810 cultivation in the EU poses a significant and imminent risk to the human and animal health or the environment.
Fixating on the health issues is just a distraction from the real problem with GM crops: They're patented, and used to exert control.
What gives the EU the right to force sanity down the throats of the batshit crazy French?
Seastead this.
i would be pissed if i ordered corn and got wheat
it is not called maize in french
Time for the EU to break up. If I were the French president my next move would be to ban the pesticide that the corn is immune to.
"An official opinion (PDF) stated that they "could not identify any new science-based evidence indicating that maize MON 810 cultivation in the EU poses a significant and imminent risk to the human and animal health or the environment"
Except you risk getting sued by Monsanto if your own crop is contaminated by patented seeds.
AccountKiller
Third world economies desperately need to transition from subsitence farming to producing cash crops. I'm no fan of Monsanto, but their actions will ultimately be beneficial
No, in order to qualify for World Bank 'loans', third world economies are forced to produce cash crops to sell on the foreign market in order to pay off the self same 'loans'.
Food and Third World "economic miracles"
AccountKiller
Europe is much bigger than just the English speaking countries, so perhaps "Europe" isn't the right term to refer to those.
In Dutch "koren", phonetically close to corn, largely is a synonym for "graan" which means cereal. But it can refer to the most commonly cultivated cerial in an area, which in Surinam would be corn/maize according to my dictionary. We use the word "mais" for maize, whether or not it's used to feed livestock.
What Do GMO Seeds Have to Do With Bee Die-Offs in the Corn Belt?
More proof pesticide causes bee Colony Collapse Disorder
AccountKiller
Mod parent up.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
But the novel is really imaginative and exceptionally well crafted. And in light of the continuing ascendancy of the corporations as the center of gravity of power worldwide it is provocative. The writer asked: "If the oil runs out and we can't solve the energy gap then which corporations will rule?" Answer: Biotech. This is a stretch, but he makes it work. Given the general nastiness surrounding patented food crops, which the original poster made clear, the author took it somewhere very dark.
Furthermore, the book resonated with me in particular as I once spent five years in Bangkok working for the Nong Su Pim Poojadkhan (Manager Newspaper Group). And let me tell you that behind the smiles Thailand is no paradise.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
this is all nonsense from bio-Luddites. ALL food organisms have been genetically modified by human intelligence, if only by processes of selection and breeding.
let those who want "natural" products eat all the hemlock, belladonna, Amanita Muscaria, ... they want.
So, if Monstersanto thinks GMOs are soooo good they should stop objecting to Vermont wanting to label that products have GMOs in them.
France could pretty easily keep GM crops out - just don't allow patents on genes in crops. Then there would be no way that Monstanto would sell it in their country. Of course, I don't know if that kind of IP protection is something mandated by being in the EU, but it is at least a thought.
Those who make the claim that their ignorant HACKS on DNA are healthy and safe THEY (monsanto) have the burden of proof.
PROVE the GM crops are SAFE before allowing them; if they can't prove it because they lack the understanding required then the science is not far enough to allow it. The risks are too great to gamble on unproven claims.
It is idiotic to invert the argument and require the opposition to have the burden of proof. The NEW products claim to be safe so it is their burden NOT the regulators who ban something that is not known to be safe.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
The solution is simple - GNU license all heirloom varieties of corn. THen when Monsanto's GM infects it, which it will, tangle them up in court. Use their own weapons against them.
Monsanto, with the help from their subsidiary, the FDA, has resisted at every turn -- despite the majority's wishes -- the request to label their GMO-containing foods.
If what they're doing is wonderful and harmless, then they should be proud of their product, no?
I don't believe this, they didn't even assess the economic impact via fair competition - creating an artificial dependence a-la Microsoft only with food as happened in India.
The story I heard was that in northern India GM took off massively and this created a dependence on Monsanto somehow and that this led to poor people being unable to grow their own food and in isolated cases, close to starving. I don't know how true this story is... need to check the sources
but it's pretty shocking that only the health risks of the current generation of GM products was assessed without the antitrust fair competition side.
A blog I run for the wealth
There is a growing consensus in the EU on increased powers for the EU institutions and towards federalisation to protect the monetary union.
The consensus you talk about is mostly among political leaders. European citizen, on their part, are more and more upset about this UE being working against the general interest. Have you noticed how political leaders now attempt to avoid referendums? Ask the people avout Lisbon Treaty, European Stability Mechanism, or Treaty on Stability, Coordonation and Governance, you will have a huge "no".
UE is getting more and more authoritarian an un-democratic. That will not stand that way forever, and current politiccal leaders will be shown the door. "Que se vayan todos"
You'd be wanting to go back to pre-industrial agriculture then, no? That risks dropping France's agricultural output by over 25%...
If that means dropping production we do not consume, and therefore sell to third world countries, then I am all for it. The UE uses export subsidies so that these product are competitive in poor countries, therefore it wastes UE taxpayer money in order to ruin third world farmers (and increase Mosanto profits, of course)
Like any club France is free to quit, but it won't because the benefits of being in are huge. Being in the club means playing by club rules as decided by the members.
Right, and as a member, France can also change the rules. The alternative is not just obey or quit.
This will be an early test of President Hollande.
In France, outsiders often say of their legal system "Guilty until proven innocent". Then under French law, the onus is on GM advocates to prove that it is safe.
More importantly though, by joining the Eurozone, this article suggests that France is not ruled by the French. It's ruled by the EU.
Once again, the power is centralising (correct spelling, I'm not American) out of the hands of the people.
There is no doubt that centralised power gets things done faster. The problem is that the people no longer have a say.
European Food Safety Authority probably made decision based on money. If you have big corporation you can bribe everyone.
Recipes for USA bankrupt - http://tinypaste.com/0d66f dd = dollar deluge (printed in the infinity)