*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
[permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] GM contaminated honey,
Lawrence F. London, Jr., 02/17/2011