Two weeks after Scotland announced it would be banning the growth of genetically modified crops on its soil, Germany is moving ahead with a similar plan. For North Americans who have long believed that all of Europe was GMO-free, reaction to the news was a confused “huh?”
Despite its rep as a non-GMO haven amongst North American health foodies, the European Union actually okays the cultivation of one GM crop on Euro soil and the import of over 50 others.
Nine EU countries, including Germany, Italy, France and Austria, had previously outlawed Monsanto’s MON810 maize, the sole genetically engineered food crop currently allowed to be grown in Europe, but national bans have been an uphill slog until now.
New regs issued earlier this year make it easier for countries to formally opt out of EU-wide crop approvals. So far, Scotland and Germany are the only European nations to seize the opportunity and announce total bans on all GM crop cultivation. Countries have until October to opt out.
Some observers say the new rules should break the political deadlock that has kept other genetically engineered crops out of the EU, while Pesticide Action Network Europe calls the updated regs another “nail in the coffin for genetically modified food crops.”
Unlike in North America, GM ingredients will still need to be labelled. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, the U.S. Congress has moved to keep states from enacting GMO labelling laws. And Canada? If the NDP (which has been pro-labelling in the past) gets in, we might actually get the GMO labelling that 90 per cent of Canadians say they want.
ecoholic@nowtoronto.com | @ecoholicnation
