EU Commission accused of hypocrisy over GMOs

Leading environmental groups accused the European Commission on Tuesday of hypocrisy over genetically modified (GMO) foods, saying its public and private views on the safety of biotech crops were poles apart.
Citing Commission papers used as the European Union's defence during a recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) case brought against it by Argentina, Canada and the United States, the groups said the EU executive was fully aware of the uncertainties surrounding GMOs. In public, however, the EU executive took a pro-biotech line and continued to authorise new GMOs for import, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth said in a report based on Commission papers used in the WTO case, which they obtained via a legal request.
"The truth is now out in the open for all to see. The released EU papers outline detailed scientific concerns about the safety of genetically modified food and crops," said Christoph Then, genetic engineering campaigner for Greenpeace.
Calling for an immediate suspension of GMO approvals and commercial GMO cultivation, the two groups said the Commission routinely hid such uncertainties from the public and accused it of taking political decisions in favour of the biotech industry.
In February, the WTO criticised the European Union and several of its member states for breaking trade rules by barring entry to GMO crops and foods. Five countries still have national bans on specific GMO products on their territories.
Europe has long been split on GMO policy and the EU's 25 countries consistently clash over whether to approve new varieties for import. The Commission usually ends up issuing a rubberstamp approval, which it may do under EU law.
Only last week, the Commission held a debate on biotech policy and agreed to try to make countries and consumers less sceptical about the technology, as well as get the EU's top food safety agency to change its practices and be more transparent.
Europe's consumers are well known for their scepticism, if not hostility, to GMO crops. The biotech industry insists that its products are safe and no different to conventional foods.
It was the Commission, in May 2004, that broke the EU's unofficial six-year moratorium on new GMO approvals by rubberstamping an import approval for a modified sweet corn.