EFSA
and Monsanto are ignoring risks for farmers and the environment
22
April 2016 / In an open letter to the EU Commission, several
Spanish,
British and German organisations are urging that effective
measures
be taken to prevent genetically engineered maize from
spreading into
the environment. As evidenced by the organisations, the
ancestor of
cultivated maize, teosinte, is widely invading agricultural
landscapes in several regions of Spain where, in some cases,
the
genetically engineered maize MON810 is also cultivated which
is
producing an insecticidal protein. Since teosinte and maize
can
interbreed, the organisations are warning that transgenes
stemming
from MON810 might also be inherited in the wild populations of
teosinte and spread uncontrollably in the environment.
"We
are requesting the EU-Commission and the Spanish government to
stop
the cultivation of MON810. Otherwise, gene flow from MON810 to
teosinte may cause it to produce Bt toxin. This would, in turn,
confer higher fitness to the hybrids of maize and teosinte in
comparison to the native teosinte plants and enable the
transgenes to
spread widely without control. This is a scenario carrying major
risks for farmers and the environment", Maria Carrascosa says
for
Red de Semillas from Spain.
Teosinte
does not normally grow in Europe, but rather in Mexico, which is
the
joint centre of origin for maize and teosinte. It is not clear
how
teosinte was introduced into Spain, where it is seen as a weed
that
has detrimental economic implications for maize farmers.
Genetically
engineered maize MON810 is produced by the US company Monsanto,
and
is cultivated in Spain on an area of more than 100.000 hectares.
Gabriela
Vázquez from Ecologistas en Acción seriously criticises the
authorities in Spain and Brussels: "The Spanish Ministry of
Agriculture and the European Commission know that we have
teosinte,
but they are not taking actions. This situation is untenable."
Producers
of genetically engineered plants holding authorisations
permitting
the cultivation of these plants in the EU are legally obliged to
prepare annual monitoring reports about the associated risks.
Therefore, the information about teosinte has to be included
into
these reports as a potential threat to farmers and the
environment.
However, as the organisations discovered by analysing official
reports published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
in
April 2016, neither Monsanto nor the EFSA have made any mention
of
the spread of teosinte and its possible implications at all. The
organisations consider this to be unacceptable, in particular,
because they already informed the Commission about the problem
in
February 2016.
"The
cultivation of MON810 has only been allowed under the condition
that
there were no relatives of the maize to which transgenes could
be
transferred and thus spread. This has now changed completely."
Christoph Then says for Testbiotech.
In
their joint letter, the organisations Amigos de la Tierra (Spain),
Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Agricultores y Ganaderos COAG
(Spain), Ecologistas en Acción (Spain), GeneWatch UK, Plataforma
Andalucía Libre de Transgénicos (Spain), Red de Semillas
"Resembrando e Intercambiando" (Spain) and Testbiotech (Germany)
request the EU Commission to
-
reject the
opinion as put forward by EFSA
-
take measures to
stop the cultivation of MON810 in Spain
-
withdraw the
authorisation for the cultivation of MON810 GM maize in
the EU, since the responsible company has repeatedly
failed to provide any information on the teosinte
infestation in Spain and its risks for farmers and the
environment.
Contacts:
María
Carrascosa. Red de Semillas "Resembrando e Intercambiando". Tel.
0034 650 102 339, maria_carrascosa@riseup.net
Gabriela
Vazquez. Ecologistas en Acción. Tel. 0034 635 170 495,
gvazquez@observatorio-omg.org
Christoph
Then, Testbiotech. Tel + 49 151 54638040, info@testbiotech.org
The
letter sent to the EU Commission: www.testbiotech.org/node/1616
Previous
joint letter to the EU
Commission: www.testbiotech.org/node/1560
