French Seed Growers: Too-Low Tolerance For GMOs Excludes Freedom of Choice
By Rick Mitchell
PARIS—Unrealistically low legal tolerance levels for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in seed could “exclude GMOs from the agricultural landscape and deny farmers the freedom of choice,” according to French professional seed growers.
The warning—in a joint statement released Feb. 3 by the French confederation of seed growers (CFS), the national inter-professional group for seeds and plants (GNIS) and the union of plant-protection industries (UIPP)—comes as the European Commission readies a proposed directive to set legal maximum levels for GMOs that are “accidental or technically inevitable” in seed. Above these limits, the seeds would have to be labeled as GMOs.
The growers are specifically worried over comments to reporters Jan. 30 by European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström, in which she said wanted GMO limits set as low as possible. "We are contemplating thresholds below those which have been discussed until now,” the commissioner said, without giving specific percentages.
The thresholds discussed until recently—0.3% for colza, 0.5% for corn and 0.7% for soya—are based on a 2001 opinion by the European Scientific Committee on Plants. “The committee emphasized that these levels could only be attained under ideal production conditions,” according to the French growers.
“These thresholds, already very low, result from a compromise between the desire to have a threshold as low as possible and the necessity to preserve the economic viability of the seed-growing profession, an indispensable basis for the coexistence of the various types of farming,” said the growers’ statement.
The growers are worried because, in the political battle to set tolerance levels, they are lined up against environmental organizations, several member states and the European Parliament. Franz Fischler, commissioner for agriculture, has also weighed in in favor of thresholds “as low as possible,” although he rules out a zero-tolerance approach.
Contacted by e-mail, a spokesperson for Wallström, Ewa Hedlund, said that the commissioner’s new proposal will still be based on the scientific committee’s opinion. However, she added that, “There is no official proposal agreed on by the Commission yet, but the thresholds we are working on are lower than those that have earlier been mentioned in the discussions. Exactly how the final outcome will be is still unknown,” she said.
For their part, the seed growers’ said that, “Establishing a threshold for the chance presence of GMOs on plants that have already been evaluated for risks does not advance public health or preserve the environment, it only provides information for users.”
