Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

 
BRUSSELS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Environmentalists who successfully steered public tastes in western Europe away from genetically modified (GM) foods said on Thursday they would now target the former communist countries of eastern Europe.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) said it would launch a public awareness campaign in countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic that are hoping to join the European Union in the next few years to rouse political support against new food technologies.

"We think the central and eastern European countries are being bulldozed by biotech multinationals and we should make them aware of the enormous potential they have for (growing) organic foods," FoE's Gill Lacroix told a news conference in Brussels.

The green group said the issue could become an important part of the process of EU enlargement which is currently being prepared by EU leaders at a summit in Nice, France.

Environmental consultant Tommy Schweiger said EU candidate countries should refuse to accept automatically the GM products already authorised through the EU's testing procedure and demand a new risk assessment in their own countries.

Although countries joining the EU have to accept the large body of EU legislation -- including rules on agriculture, food safety and the environment -- Schweiger said they could ask for transitional arrangements to refuse GM products accepted by the rest of the EU while new tests were performed.

Environmentalist groups oppose GM plants because of the risk of cross-pollination with traditional species and possible damage to the eco-system.

Many consumers in the EU have recoiled from GM foods over fears that genetically altered material could pose health risks, despite a lack of scientific evidence that this is the case.

The EU is finalising tough new rules for GM foods that will require rigorous risk assessments and clear product labelling.

12:07 12-07-00

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