The European Commission recently approved a license for the first GM-crop to be passed for commercial production in 12 years. The Amflora GM potato developed by the world's largest chemical company BASF Europe is designed to produce starch for industrial uses including paper and glue and has also been cleared for use in animal feed. The potato has already been planted extensively in Germany, the Czech Republic and Sweden. The only other GM crop to be approved by the Comission was Monsanto's GM810 maize variety which was lisenced in 1998 and is currently grown in France, Spain, Romania and Slovakia.
On the back of the approval the Commission announced its intention to devolve decisions on lisencing GM crops to individual member states. There are currently 17 separate GMO's awaiting commercial lisencing in the EU ranging from Round-Up-resistant varieties to crops engineered for improved vigour and climatic tolerance. In the same week that the Amflora potato was lisenced the European Commission also voted to pass three new Monsanto GM maize varieties on the market "for food and feed uses but not for cultivation".
The EU health and consumer policy commissioner John Dalli said that the lisences had only been granted following an "extensive and thorough review" of the applications from both BASF and Monsanto. He insisted the applications were also supported by "favourable safety assessments" by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Concerns have since been raised by several members on the EFSA board that antibiotic-resistant genes contained in the Amflora potato could cause complications with treating specific infections such as tuberculosis in humans and animals. UK beef and dairy farmers, who are currently experiencng a TB epidemic, import around 600,000 tonnes of lievstock feed from Europe every year.
Speaking in response to the Commission's ruling Heike Moldenhauer spokesperson for Friends of the Earth Europe said "This is a bad day for European citizens and the environment. The new Commissioner whose job is to protect consumers has in one of his first decisions ignored public opinion and safety concerns to please the world's biggest chemical company. This decision puts profit before people or the environment and will do little to increase public confidence in the Brussels bureaucracy.
There are clear health concerns surrounding this GM potato. The antibiotics affected by Amflora are vital tools against illness and despite growing resistance to these life saving drugs, industry has added them to potatoes with no guarantees that they will not get into the food chain. This is nothing less then a crass decision that puts the public at risk."
Despite the EU ruling resistance to GMO's across Europe remains fertile. Bulgaria, Austria and Italy have announced that they will defy the decision and refuse to allow the Amflora potato to be grown.