Just how risky are the toxic compounds in genetically engineered plants?
Friday, 29 April 2011
Munich/Berlin
Testbiotech is warning that toxic compounds found in genetically engineered plants are increasingly burdening the food chain. Particular reasons for concern are raised about residues from herbicides and insecticides. Though it is known that the amount of residues in the plants is increasing, there are hardly any controls and risk assessment is insufficient. The report was commissioned by Ulrike Hoefken, a Green Member of the German Parliament.
Testbiotech has thus far published two reports on the risk assessment of genetically engineered crops in the EU (Then&Potthof, 2009; Then, 2010) and prepared several background papers. Here we have drawn up a short overview of the most relevant points for consultation on the environmental risk assessment of genetically engineered plants.
The European Union Agriculture Council will on March 17 2011 deal with a market application of a so called 'stacked event' for MON 89034 × MON 88017 maize (Monsanto). Another new application for cotton GHB614 (Bayer) is on the agenda as well as renewal of application for maize 1507 (Pioneer). Testbiotech urges these applications be rejected, because necessary standards for assessing health risks are not met and recent publications show the need for further investigations.
EU Commissioner for Trade: Products from offspring of cloned animals already on the market
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Munich, Bruxelles
A non-public EU Commission paper confirms that food from offsprings of cloned animals are already on the European market. The animals get into the market via the import of breeding material from the US. The EU Trade Commission argues that in future too these products should not be regulated, labelled or controlled for unexpected risks, because so far no systems have been established for registering the animals in exporting countries such as the US.
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