Greece and Latvia opt out of Monsanto’s application to grow GM crops

Monsanto has agreed to Latvia and Greece’s requests to be excluded from its application to grow genetically modified (GM) crop across the European Union (EU), under the new EU opt-out law.

The law was signed by EU nations in March, and stipulates that individual countries can opt out from any approval request to GM cultivation across the EU.

While the European Commission is responsible for approvals, requests to be excluded from the application are to be submitted to the producer in question as well; in this case, Monsanto.

GM crops are grown extensively in the Americas and Asia. However, Monsanto’s pest-resistant MON810 is grown only in Europe, where there is fierce opposition to it.

Europe is a smaller market for Monsanto’s activities, who was reported by Reuters as saying that these opt-outs would have no impact on its business.

"Nevertheless, we regret that some countries are deviating from a science-based approach to innovation in agriculture and have elected to prohibit the cultivation of a successful GM product on arbitrary political grounds," the company said in a statement cited in Reuters.

Monsanto also said that it has no immediate plans for approving requests for any GM seeds in Europe.

Environmental campaigners are now urging other nations to follow the example of Latvia and Greece.

Friends of the Earth Europe has also circulated letters which show that the European Commission is examining rules for the import ofproducts with trace levels of GM qualities, and has even sought the expert opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

In a statement issued on Thursday, as reported by Reuters, the Commission said that its no-tolerance policy against unapproved GM products remains intact, and it was only seeking advice on ‘a scientific question’, which has no relation to the trade negotiations with the US. EFSA said it would give a scientific opinion on the query by the end of 2017.

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Image: Monsanto faces opposition in Europe to grow GM crops. Photo: Courtesy of meepoohfoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.