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Greenpeace seeks liability rules on GMO releases

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, June 23

GREENPEACE has called on the European Union (EU) Environment Ministers to ensure that the EU moratorium on the approvals of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) remains in place as the Ministers met on Thursday for the June Environment Council in Luxemb ourg.

The information published recently in France about the contamination of 4,800 hectares of maize and earlier discovery of contamination of oilseed (rapeseed) by unapproved GMOs showed a need to strengthen safety precautions on GMOs, Greenpeace argued.

Seeking clear rules as to liability in the European legislation on genetic engineering (GE), the activist organisation said the company had offered to compensate farmers for crop losses in the UK and France, but not in Germany, and no one was willing to compensate for any potential damage caused to the environment.

Greenpeace has called for liability rules to be included in the directive on releases of GMOs (90/220) which is under revision at the moment. It has asked the Environment Minister to stop the seed imports from GMO producing countries such as the US and C anada until these countries set up measures to stop contamination of conventional seed stock, even as the US seed exporters have vehemently refused to take any action to guarantee GM-free seed for their European customers.