permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] GM contaminated honey
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:04:25 -0500
From: joe cummins <jcummins@UWO.CA>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

EU beekeepers stage win against GM crop producers
Deutsche Welle, 15 February 2011
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14843153,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

*The EU's highest court may classify honey containing traces of 
genetically modified material as "food produced" from modified plants. 
Such a ruling may enable beekeepers with hives close to GM crops to seek 
damages.

Beekeepers with hives close to fields of Monsanto genetically modified 
maize can't sell their honey in the European Union without regulatory 
approval, an adviser to the European Court of Justice has said.

The presence in honey "even of a minute quantity of pollen" from the 
maize is reason enough to restrict its sale, Advocate General Yves Bot 
told the court last week.

Damage claim

"Food containing material from a genetically modified plant, whether 
that material is included intentionally or not, must always be regarded 
as 'food produced' from modified plants," said Bot. Acting as an 
independent adviser to the court, he was tasked with suggesting a 
ruling, based on previous EU decisions. If the EU tribunal follows Bot's 
advice, which it is expected to do, the ruling could have consequences 
across the bloc.

This would be a huge success for "anyone wanting to prevent food and 
animal feed from being more and more contaminated with genetically 
modified material," said Achim Willand, a lawyer representing food 
producers. "Beekeepers are especially susceptible because bees collect 
the pollen of GM plants within a radius of three to five kilometers," he 
told Deutsche Welle.

Monsanto's genetically modified corn type MON 810 has not been 
authorized for sale on the European food market. If new regulations are 
established, making it impossible for beekeepers to sell their product 
because it has been contaminated by pollen from MON 810 crops, the 
beekeepers may be able to claim damages from Monsanto.

Zero tolerance policy

"Yves Bot didn't use the word, but the opinion basically translates into 
a zero tolerance policy," said Thomas Radetzki, an advocate for German 
beekeepers against genetic engineering in agriculture. "It would mean 
that any produce with even the slightest trace of genetically modified 
crop would become a GM food product, with all the consequences."

Beekeeper Karl-Heinz Bablok, from Kaisheim near Augsburg in Southern 
Germany, originally brought the case to court. His hives were two 
kilometers away from fields where research was being conducted with 
Monsanto's MON 810 maize. He went to court trying to get the research 
stopped or get protection for his produce. Researchers argued that the 
bees weren’t interested in pollen from maize.

In an attempt to prove the researchers wrong, Bablok put his hives 500 
meters away from the maize fields. He had to throw away the honey his 
bees produced, because he found it was contaminated with traces of GM 
pollen.

Lack of protection

Thomas Radetzki of the beekeepers' action group said beekeepers who have 
hives close to GM crop fields have not had enough protection, despite 
the existence of protective laws.

Currently, Monsanto is banned from testing its maize in Germany. 
Meanwhile, the beekeepers case is being watched closely by the 
agricultural sector. "If we're successful, others may follow, and then 
the matter may be brought to other national courts too," said Radetzki.

No winner declared yet

Achim Willand, the lawyer representing food producers, said the Advocate 
General's suggested ruling could have implications for anyone seeking 
permission to grow genetically modified plants in the EU.

But Thomas Radetzki said, while opponents of GM crops may be pleased at 
the moment, the case hadn’t been won yet. Advocate General Yves Bot 
based his suggested ruling on laws which are in place right now. 
Radetzki warned that, even if the EU tribunal were to follow Bot's 
advice, "the EU Commission can always change its laws. Then we'd have to 
start from scratch."

Author: Nina Haase (Bloomberg, taz)

Editor: Saroja Coelho