EU Head Office Approves Genetically Modified Corn Product
Published: Jun 25, 2004
Posted on 06/25/2004 11:43:23 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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The commission said any products containing the corn, known as NK603, would have to be labeled clearly as genetically modified.
The corn produced by St. Louis-based Monsanto underwent "a thorough safety assessment for any adverse impact on public health," the EU head office said in a statement.
Friday's proposal to allow the corn to be marketed came a month after the European Union lifted its six-year moratorium on approving genetically modified organisms. The EU's 25 member states now have three months to decide whether to accept it.
European leaders have stressed the importance of the biotech industry as an engine for growth. Yet they are reluctant to be seen as promoting genetically modified foods, which remain unpopular in Europe where consumers remember recent food-related health scares, from mad cow disease to poisoned poultry.
In May, a biotech variety of corn made by Switzerland's Syngenta AG was approved for import and sale, but not cultivation. It was the first such approval for a biotech product in the EU since 1998, when a de facto moratorium was imposed in response to public fears about the health and safety of bioengineering.
The U.S. administration has accused the EU of violating international trade rules by hindering the marketing of genetically modified foodstuffs. Although it has welcomed the EU's lifting of a moratorium, it continues with a complaint against Europe at the World Trade Organization. An initial ruling is expected in September.
In morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Monsanto shares were up 65 cents at $35.88.
AP-ES-06-25-04 1121EDT
ping.
All you genes are belong to us!
For great justice.
It is not a win at all. As long as the product is labeled GM, sales in the EU will be very small. The smear campaign against GM has been too successful. It is very similar to how FDA Commissar David Kessler killed Olestra by smearing it before it was "approved".
That means Archer-Daniels Midland stock goes up too.
Oh ya, just hide the changes, so people can't track any new problems that crop up.
EU member states won't go for it, and if they do the public there is so brain-washed against US "Frankenfoods" that they'll shun it. That's what the six-year "moratorium" was for.
I've even had Ukrainians tell me that US foods are dangerous while they're buying fly- and feces-strewn meat cuts out of the back of a van on the street corner.
And under a Marlboro sign.
Barf.....
Yes, indeed it is. BBC had a Monsanto spokesman on a few months ago. The reporter was badmouthing Monsanto's genetically altered corn, etc., which the spokesman said was meant to help feed starving Africans. He kept his cool and poise under the usual nasty BBC sniping.
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