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First GM potato to be grown in Europe
by Louise Gray - 03/03/2010
"Farmers will be able to grow fields of genetically modified (GM) potatoes in Europe for the first time after a controversial ruling by the European Commission. "
The decision is the first approval for a GM crop to be grown on a commercial scale in Europe for 12 years and was criticised by environmentalists.
But the EC insisted the crop was safe and will not be grown for human consumption.
The GM Amflora potato has been developed by German chemical giant BASF to produce more starch. It is expected to be mostly grown in Germany for industrial purposes like the paper industry, but not food.
However it is unlikely to be grown in Britain because there is no demand for the potato in industry.
Prior to the potato, only MON 810, a strain of GM maize made by Monsanto, had been authorised for cultivation in Europe since 1998.
GM crops can also be grown for scientific trials and the UK Government has given permission for a number of GM potato trials recently.
However this is the first time GM has been grown on a commercial scale in Europe.
John Dalli, EU Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner, said its latest decision was "based on a considerable volume of sound science".
But Luca Zaia, Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia, said his country was against the decision.
Martin Hausling, a German Green MEP said approval of the potato "flies in the face of the 70 per cent of consumers who are against GM food, as well as the anti-GM position of the European Parliament."
Heike Moldenhauer, of Friends of the Earth, said the potato carried a controversial antibiotic resistant gene that could cause problems if it enters the food chain through feeding the industrial pulp from the potatoes to livestock.
"This decision puts profit before people or the environment and will do little to increase public confidence in the Brussels bureaucracy," she said.
More Details: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7353529/First-GM-potato-to-be-grown-in-Europe.html
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