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EU
suppresses GE study:
GE crops add high costs, threaten organic
 BRUSSELS,
BELGIUM, 16 May 2002 - A secret European Union (EU) study
leaked to Greenpeace states that all farmers would face high
additional, in some cases unsustainable costs of production
if genetically engineered (GE) crops were commercially grown
in a large scale in Europe. The study predicts that the situation
would become particularly critical for organic farming of
oilseed rape as well as for intensive production of conventional
maize.
The study was
ordered in May 2000 by the EU Commission, to examine the co-existence
of GE and non-GE crops. It was carried out by the Institute
for Prospective Technological Studies of the EU Joint Research
Centre.
When the study
was delivered to the EU Commission in January 2002, it came
with the recommendation that it not be made public.
Lorenzo
Consoli, EU policy advisor for Greenpeace sais that, "The
European Commission has tried to keep this study secret because
it was afraid of its political
implications."
"The
question is, if the introduction of GE crops on a commercial
scale in Europe increases costs of production for all farmers,
makes them more dependent on the big seed companies, and require
complicated and costly measures to avoid contamination, why
should we accept GE cultivation in the first place?"
asked Consoli.
The EU
study states that in oilseed rape production the co-existence
of GE and non-GE crops in a same region, even when "technically
possible", would be "economically difficult."
This is because of the additional costs and complexity of
changes required in farming practices in order to avoid genetic
contamination.
Both organic
and conventional farmers "would probably be forced to
stop saving seed and instead buy certified seed", because
of the increased risk of GE impurity for seeds that have been
exposed to field contamination. The study predicts that smaller
farms would face relatively higher costs compared to larger
entities, and that cultivation of GE and non-GE crops in the
same farm "might be an unrealistic scenario, even for
larger farms."
Further information:
View the
executive summary and conclusions of the report
View
the full May 16 Greenpeace press release
Sign
a petition to Save our Seeds from genetic contamination
Further
information on the risks of genetic contamination
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