Malta maintains opposition to GMOs

The Minister of Rural Affairs and the Environment, George Pullicino, maintained Malta's opposition to production and cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the country at an Austrian EU Presidency's conference in Vienna last week.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Joe Farrugia, secretary of the Progressive Farmers' Union, applauded Malta's position, warning that "because of the country's size, introduction of any GMO strain would soon result in island-wide contamination, and a loss of product authenticity on which we base our exports".

The president of Nature Trust, Vince Attard, who participated in the conference, added that "GMO introduction in Malta would involve high costs for non-GMO farmers for product testing. Another problem would be the possible impact on local producers of imported GMO potatoes and tomatoes. The Vienna conference showed that GMO co-existence is emerging as an economic rather than health or environmental issue".

Focused on the controversial topic of co-existence between GMOs and conventional and organic crops, the conference failed to agree on the need for an EU-wide regime to supplement the present mosaic of different national rules.

The European Commission will be holding its second internal debate on GMOs this week. Last year's debate concluded that Europe should press ahead with more GMO approvals - if necessary without the blessing of most EU governments.

Accused by civil society groups of submitting to the biotechnology industry and US government pressures rather than listening to European consumers or farmers, the Commission opposes an EU wide co-existence system. It is also widely criticised for overriding the wishes of many EU member states - which have so far failed to generate a qualified majority in favour of introducing various GMO strains - by then issuing its own authorisations.

An MRAE spokesman told the The Sunday Times that Malta "considers a change in EC procedures as desirable". While the 172 self-declared GMO-free regions across Europe are rejected as illegal by the European Commission, the spokesman indicated that "although a member state cannot legislate a GMO-free zone, a voluntary agreement between farmers in a particular zone not to use GMOs, should not be objected to by the Commission."

Chairing the conference, Austrian Agriculture Minister Josef Proll strongly supported the need for EU-wide rules, emphasising that "62 per cent of EU citizens have doubts about genetically modified food, but the labelling obligation gives consumers freedom to choose. We must now address freedom of choice for farmers."

Environment Commissioner Stravros Dimas warned that the long-term impact of GMOs, in particular on biodiversity, had not yet been fully assessed. "We should not ignore the use of upgraded conventional varieties as an alternative to GM crops, particularly where similar characteristics can be introduced without genetic modification," he said.

In contrast, the Agriculture Commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, asserted that "GM farming has arrived; the list of permitted crops will almost certainly become longer."

After the conference, a coalition of farming and environmental organisations issued a call for a Europe-wide citizens' debate questioning whether co-existence was possible without widespread contamination of organic and conventional food and agriculture by GMOs.

Greenpeace revealed evidence of extensive contamination in Spain, from GMO maize planted in Spain, so far ignored by the EC.

In contrast, Poland's Deputy Farm Minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski said last Wednesday that the government wants to ban sowing and curb imports of genetically modified (GMO) plants to protect its image as an environment-friendly state.