EU Ponders Coexistence
27 April 2006 In that report, the EC concludes that a harmonized approach to coexistence from the EU level is not yet needed, though the findings are based partly on the Union’s inexperience with biotech crop production.
Already, the EU oversees the environmental and health aspects of genetically modified (GM) crops through several policies. Directive 2001/18/EC regulates the unintended mixing of crops, and prevents Member States from barring or restricting the placement of GM products on the market. Regulation 1829/2003/EC lays out rules for biotech products in animal feed, and Recommendation 2003/556/EC provides a guidepost for Member States to develop coexistence measures. These policies all involve the segregation of crops in the field to avoid genetic drift or other unintended mixtures.
Further measures are in effect or recommended for segregating and tracking crops through cultivation, harvesting, transport, storage, and processing. Recommendation 2003/556/EC also provides general guidance for Member States to create national strategies for coexistence through these steps of the agricultural and industrial process.
Current State Of The States
At the end of 2005, 10 Member States had coexistence legislation drafts in advanced stages of development, four had drafts that had been notified to the EC, and six had already adopted policies. In terms of draft legislation, the EC has received 20 proposals from seven Member States. In 10 cases, the EC believed the legislation inhibited the free movement of goods. In four cases, there were no objections. Two notifications were withdrawn, and four notifications are pending.
The EU currently only allows the commercial cultivation of two types of biotech corn, Bt176 and MON810. In Spain, cultivation of biotech maize was 58,000 hectares (Ha) in 2004, which was equivalent to about 12% of the Spanish maize area. In other EU nations, biotech maize cultivation is limited to a few hundred hectares. The lack of biotech varieties in the EU and the slow start for biotech crops have made progress on coexistence legislation a low priority item for most Member States.
To further assist Member States in developing coexistence measures suited to each Member’s crop patterns, soil types, climates, and other variances, the EU also has set up COEX-NET, a web site at www.coextra.org.
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