US UNABLE TO STOP BAD SEED FROM ENTERING EUROPE

29 March 2000

BRUSSELS -– According to a letter made public by Greenpeace today, US seed certification authorities are unwilling and unable to guarantee that seed exports to Europe are not contaminated with GE seed.

The US Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA) stated in a letter to the Greek Ministry of Agriculture, "... there are no standards for certifying seed as non-GMO at present, and on that basis the United States cannot provide the certification." The letter was sent in reply to a Greek request for GE-free cottonseed after Greenpeace exposed large-scale GE contamination of US cottonseed in the country two weeks ago. The seed, destined for commercial planting in Greece, contained GE seed types not approved for planting in the EU.

"It is astonishing that the US authorities are perfectly happy to ignore the European legislation," said Isabelle Meister of Greenpeace. "If the US refuses to guarantee that its merchandise complies with the laws of an importing country, we see no other option to protect the European environment from unwanted genetic pollution than to ban such US seed imports."

Furthermore, GE contamination is not only a problem for cotton. Last year GE-contaminated maize seed was imported from the US into Germany and Switzerland. The Swiss authorities halted the sale of the seed and ordered the destruction of the contaminated fields.

"GE contamination could also be a problem for potato, tomato, rapeseed and soy," said Meister. "This case once again highlights why we need a ban on all trade on genetically engineered organisms until the Biosafety Protocol is ratified. The EU Environment Ministers meeting tomorrow in Luxembourg must propose such a ban to the Nairobi meeting of the Rio Convention in May. Also the European Commission must urgently tighten its present seed regulation to match its GE legislation to prevent the genetic contamination through seed."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Isabelle Meister, GE campaigner Greenpeace International, +41 1 4474195
- Ceri Lewis, Greenpeace Political Advisor, +32 2 280 1400
- Mika Railo, Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 20 5249 548

Follow Greenpeace's Genetic Engineering campaign on the web: www.greenpeace.org/~geneng

Neither GE cotton, soybean, rape seed nor potatoes have been approved for cultivation in the EU and only three GE-maize out of at least 11 GE-maize lines grown in the US, can be legally grown in the EU. The selling and planting of the unapproved GE seed would be in violation of EU legislation. Seed imports from the US to Europe, especially of maize, have already dropped significantly over the past years and do not play a major role for European agriculture.