BASF Threatens EC On Biotech Potato Decision
22 April 2008 BASF mentioned the possibility of taking the European Commission (EC) to court if the body continued to delay reaching a decision on approval of a biotech potato variety, Businessweek reports.
According to the article, for nine months the EC has been considering whether to approve cultivation of the potato. “Enough is enough,” said Stefan Marcinowski, a director at BASF AG. “We are prepared to take all kinds of options, which includes legal action against the Commission.”
Marcinowski said talks Tuesday with EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas made no progress, and that EU officials were making a mockery of their own approval system.
EC approval for BASF’s “Amflora” potato would be its first approval of a biotech crop in a decade. The potato would provide starch for industrial uses, such as making glossy magazine coatings and as an additive in sprayable concrete. BASF says byproducts could also be used to make animal feed, but that would need further clearance from the EU. The potato is not designed to be eaten by humans.
Environmental groups have warned that BASF’s potato contains a gene that makes it resistant to antibiotics, which the opponents say could spread to conventional crops and taint the food chain.
Marcinowski said that Dimas reiterated concerns about that gene, which BASF says poses no danger to humans or animals. That claim has been supported by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Marcinowski also warned that biotech companies worldwide see the potato case as a test of whether the EC will follow its own approval system, or would buckle to activist opinion.
“Interest to invest here in research and development is reducing,” Marcinowski said. In the meantime, approvals of the biotech potato, as well as two genetically modified corn products remain frozen by the commission.
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