German farmers to be liable for GM contamination by Shaoni Bhattacharya The New Scientist, 26 Nov 2004 The German parliament has passed a controversial legal amendment that will protect farmers who grow conventional crops from any contamination by genetically modified versions. The decision by the Bundestag on Friday means that GM farmers will be financially liable for any economic damage caused if their crops contaminate neighbouring non-GM products. The amendment now has to pass through the Bundesrat, the chamber of the federal states. The process is likely to be completed by the end of 2004. The ruling obliges farmers of GM produce to take precautionary action to prevent "material negative effect" from their GM crops on neighbouring non-GM crops. For example, GM farmers should lay down minimum distances between fields. A negative financial effect would include a situation, for example, where a conventional farmer was obliged to label their produce as "genetically modified" owing to cross-contamination. Under European Commission legislation, any produce which contains more than 0.9% GM material must be labelled as GM produce. Certified organic farmers unable to label their produce as organic could also claim. The change in law will additionally demand a site register of where all GM crops are grown, as well as a compensation scheme. "Biological experiment" Environmentalists welcomed the law. "This law is good news for hundreds of millions of Europeans who do not wish to participate in the biggest biological experiment of our time and who want to eat food that is GM- free," says Geert Ritsema of Friends of the Earth Europe. "This law should now be the benchmark for similar legislation in other EU member states." But some farmers were unhappy with the move, with the German farmer's union, DBV, expressing its "regret". "The consequences of the law will be that research and development [of GM crops] are neglected, which are necessary to assess in an impartial way the advantages and disadvantages of this green genetic technology," it says. "This will have catastrophic consequences," says Heinrich Cuypers, managing director of BioConValley, a federation of north German biotech companies. "It will set the use of biotechnology in agriculture back years," he told the UK's Financial Times newspaper. The new law also introduces the idea of joint and several liability where it is not clear which farm caused contamination if several neighbouring farms cultivate GM crops. "A farmer who has sustained damage will be free to decide which neighbour to claim compensation from," states the amendment. -------------------------- German bill lays down strict rules for 'genetic' crops by Bertrand Benoit & Bettina Wassener Financial Times, 26 Nov 2004 A German bill on genetic engineering likely to be approved by parliament today could have dramatic implications for the country's biotechnology sector, industry representatives warned yesterday. The bill, which has received a warm welcome from environmentalists, sets some of the strictest rules in Europe for the cultivation of genetically modified crops. "This will have catastrophic consequences," Heinrich Cuypers, managing director of BioConValley, a federation of north German biotech companies, told the Financial Times. "It will set the use of biotechnology in agriculture years back." Under the bill, expected to secure a broad majority in the lower house, growers of genetically modified crops will become directly liable for damage to surrounding fields. The bill also imposes strict safety measures on GM growers, such as surrounding their fields with hedges made of non-GM plants to prevent cross-pollination of crops. In addition, all land earmarked for commercial or experimental GM cultivation will have to be entered in a public register. Opponents fear the restrictions could discourage cultivation of and research into GM crops. So does the European Commission, which expressed objections to earlier versions of the bill. A spokeswoman said the Commission had yet to see a final version. "The law just makes it too risky to grow GM crops," Arno Krotzky, chief executive of the Berlin-based biotech company Metanomics, told the FT. "We are making the same mistake we made in the 1980s when we banned production of insulin. The pharmaceutical industry has yet to recover." The law comes at a sensitive time for Germany's once thriving biotechnology sector, which has barely begun to recover from three years of crisis since the stock market crash of 2000. Friedrich Berschauer, head of Bayer CropScience, the pharmaceutical group's agricultural arm, said: "There will be a clear negative impact for Germany. If research capabilities leave as a result, if we miss the opportunity, we will never get it back." Henning Strodthoff of Greenpeace, the environmental pressure group, defended the bill. "If GM and other crops must coexist, then there should be strict rules to protect conventional growers," he said. -------------------------------- New German law will help to keep Europe GMO free Friends of the Earth Europe 26 Nov 2004 Brussels, 26 November. Friends of the Earth Europe today welcomed the adoption by the German Parliament (Bundestag) of a new law that protects consumers and farmers against the risks of genetically modified (GM) foods and crops. The law introduces the principle that GM farmers and GM operators are financially liable for economic damage caused if their crops contaminate non-GM products. The most important provisions of the law are: - In case of economic damage (e.g. when organic or conventional farmers cannot sell their products due to the presence of GM material), the neighbouring farmers growing GM crops are liable. - If it is not clear which farmer has caused the contamination the principle of joint liability of all neighbouring GMO farmers will apply. That means a farmer who has sustained damage will be free to decide which neighbour to claim compensation from. - A register with precise information about where GM crops are intended to be released will be publicly available. Friends of the Earth believe that these provisions will give GM farmers and GM operators a strong incentive not to contaminate neighbouring fields, thus helping to ensure the freedom of choice for the overwhelming majority of German and EU consumers that do not want to eat GM foods. Geert Ritsema of Friends of the Earth Europe said: "This law is good news for hundreds of millions of Europeans who do not wish to participate in the biggest biological experiment of our time and who want to eat food that is GM-free. This law should now be the benchmark for similar legislation in other EU member states." Nevertheless, the German law also contains loopholes and could still be improved. Most importantly, the law hardly covers damage to the environment as a result of GM crops. In effect, the protection that the law offers for ecologically sensitive zones is restricted to Natura 2000 areas, which only form 2,5 % of the surface of Germany. Field trials, the use and handling of GM crops in such areas are only allowed if GMOs don't damage the environment. An open question is how a competent authority can proof that GMOs threaten the environment in a way that a ban in a special area is justified. Friends of the Earth is concerned that the European Commission might want to overrule the German law by taking Germany to the European Court of Justice. In a leaked document (available from Friends of the Earth) from July 2004 the Commission already hinted in this direction. Friends of the Earth firmly believes that the European Commission should not threaten the protective measures and civil rights that the German Parliament has put in place. Contact: Geert Ritsema, Friends of the Earth Europe: mobile 00 31 (0)6 290 05 908 Heike Moldenhauer: BUND/Friends of the Earth Germany: 00 49 (0)30- 275 86 456 or +49-(0)179-8138088 (mobile) An English summary of the German law is available from this website of the German Federal Ministry of Consumer protection and Agriculture: http://www.verbraucherministerium.de/index-000265812B89107E9DEC6521C0A8D816.html