SPAIN IGNORES EU LAWS IN AN EFFORT TO PUSH POTENTAIILY GE COTTONSEED ONTO GREEK MARKET

4 April 2000

MADRID/BRUSSELS -– Greenpeace today published information, which shows that Spain is trying to pressure the Greek government to drop safety measures that stop the spread of illegal, genetically engineered (GE) cotton crops. Greenpeace demanded an immediate halt to both cotton and maize seed imports from the US to prevent GE pollution.

"The Spanish efforts to bully Greece into accepting contaminated US seed are peculiar since they are exporting cottonseed to Greece," said campaigner Ricardo Aguilar of Greenpeace. "Instead of bullying others, the Spanish agriculture ministry should check its own seed stock." In 1999, Spain imported over 1000 tonnes of cottonseed from the US, the major producer of GE cottonseed. Spain has also allowed test sites for growing GE cotton, which further exacerbates the potential for genetic pollution.

In a letter to the Greek agriculture ministry (March 24, 2000), the Spanish agriculture ministry states that a demand from Greece for a certificate which would prove cotton and maize seed free of any GE contamination is a trade barrier and should be dropped. The Greek ministry requested GE-free labelling from all cotton and maize seed providers after GE contaminated cottonseed was found in Greece. "In its letter, the Spanish ministry refers to the EU seed marketing directive and states that no labelling is needed," said Aguilar. "However, it conveniently ignores any reference to the EU directive governing the deliberate release of GMOs, which expressly requires that any GE seed must be approved before it can be planted and also that it is clearly labelled."

"We demand a complete halt on cotton and maize seed imports from the US until this situation is resolved," added Aguilar. "The European Commission must take the necessary steps to force Spain to stop this unwanted proliferation of GE contamination from happening."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Ricardo Aquilar, GE campaigner, Greenpeace Spain, +34 91 444 1434
- Ceri Lewis, Greenpeace Political Advisor, +32 2 280 1400
- Mika Railo, Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 20 5249 548

Press releases on the earlier exposes and other background information on Greenpeace's GE campaign can be found at:
www.greenpeace.org/~geneng

On March 10, 2000 Greenpeace revealed a large-scale GE contamination of conventional cottonseed in Greece, originating from the US. Last week Greenpeace published a letter from the US Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies to the Greek agricultural ministry stating that the US seed certifiers are not intending to guarantee GE free seed to European customers. No GE cotton has been approved in the EU making all planting of GE cotton illegal.