BASF GM potato authorisation - Greenpeace statement

19 February 2008
by eub2 -- last modified 19 February 2008

Greenpeace calls for an end to the deadlock between the Council and the European Commission. Yet again the Commission proposal to get GMOs authorised did not get Council approval. However, due to the inadequacies of the authorisation process, the Commission may nevertheless allow these products onto the EU market, which goes against the will of a majority of European citizens.

In the case of the BASF GM potato, Greenpeace calls on the Commission to urgently review the health risks arising from the antibiotic resistance properties of the potato, following statements by a leading scientist published in the International Herald Tribune yesterday.

Scientific evidence gathered by international bodies with expertise on the issue, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Medicines Agency (EMEA), was ignored by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Commission. The BASF potato contains a gene that could spread resistance to critically important antibiotics. The use of these genes has been subject to an EU-wide ban since 2004. Authorising this GMO would not only be illegal under EU law, but is also an irresponsible gamble with animal and human health.

The GM potato case highlights the huge cracks in the original Commission proposal and the fundamental lack of rigour in examining the real risks associated with GM products. Greenpeace calls on the Commission to solve the inconsistencies of the GMO authorisation process which has EFSA at its heart. It is high time for the Commission to stop hiding behind EFSA's flawed opinions.

Patrice Courvalin - Head of Antibacterial Agents Unit at the Institut Pasteur medical research centre:
"We should keep trying to prevent dissemination of antibiotic resistance rather than to allow products into the food chain that could potentially make a bad situation even worse."
(International Herald Tribune - 18 Feb)

What next?
The ball is now in the Commission's court. The next step should be to address the future of EFSA and how EU law on GMOs is implemented.

EFSA is a small, poorly-funded agency, which depends on the support of some 20 part-time scientists who end up taking decisions that affect the lives of half a billion European citizens.

EFSA is an advisory body which has a mandate to compose opinions, not to formulate decisions. The Commission cannot solely rely on EFSA's position, particularly when there is disagreement with recognised international bodies such as the WHO and EMEA.

Greenpeace European Unit is based in Brussels, where we monitor and analyse the work of the institutions of the European Union (EU), expose deficient EU policies and laws, and challenge decision-makers to implement progressive solutions.

Greenpeace European Unit