The battle to win the hearts – and produce – of UK farmers appears to be hotting up
France's ban on GM crops was illegal
FRANCE’S highest court has confirmed the European Court of Justice’s judgment that the 2008 French ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops (GM) was illegal.
Both courts overturned the national ban declaring the French Government presented no scientific evidence of any risk to health or the environment from these crops.
EuropaBio’s Director of Green Biotechnology Europe, Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, said: “These judgments from the highest European court and the highest French court send one message loud and clear: bans of GM crops cannot be based on political dogma.
“As both judgments state, no ban on planting GM crops can be declared without valid scientific evidence, something that France and other European countries have not produced.
“France’s leaders must now decide whether they want to regain their position as a leader of agricultural innovation, tackle future global challenges and create jobs and investment in agriculture, or support an anti-science agenda that weakens Europe’s competitiveness.”
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Readers' comments (1)
Richard Micklethwait | 30 November 2011 10:58 am
When testing GM crop on mice Monsanto was reported to have stopped the tests on mice as there was a thickening of the bottom of the oesophagus which may lead to cancer of the throat. Evidence is there if you want to find it, but we have got to the point where they do not have to prove it safe but objectors have to prove it is not. The same applies to mobile phones and negates every normal standard by which products should be judged.
Politics follows money and not the other way round, so the politicans will not resolve this.
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