Wallström issues warning as ministers reject lifting of GM ban

Date: 31/10/01

By Laurence Frost

ENVIRONMENT Commissioner Margot Wallström warned EU governments they were backing an "illegal situation" after they rejected her call to lift the unofficial ban on approvals of new genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

Environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday (29 October) said they would not authorise GM crops until rules on traceability and labelling were in force in up to three years. Wallström and EU consumer affairs chief David Byrne had earlier this month called for an end to the moratorium in exchange for voluntary implementation of the new rules by biotech firms before they become law. "It isn't possible to start discussing a possible end to the moratorium as long as there is no operational system on traceability and labelling, and that is some way off," said French environment minister Yves Cochet. France leads the hard core of six countries maintaining the ban.

The Commission fears legal action by biotech companies or a challenge at the World Trade Organisation from the US or another GMO exporter. "This is problematic and I don't know how to solve it," Wallström told the ministers. "We are in an illegal situation."

Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström warned EU governments they were backing an 'illegal situation' after they rejected her call to lift the unofficial ban on approvals of new genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) on 29 October 2001.

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