EU project PRICE biased in favour of industry

26 March 2015 / In a media release from 19 March, experts involved in the EU project, PRICE, state that the outcome of the project shows current EU regulations to be sufficiently robust to avoid major problems with contamination from genetically engineered plants. They especially refer to field trials with genetically engineered maize in Spain. Not mentioned are findings from investigations in Portugal, where bakery products were found to be contaminated with genetically engineered maize, in some cases to quite a high level.

The EU project PRICE (PRactical Implementation of Coexistence in Europe) was initiated to investigate the so-called coexistence of conventional agriculture with the cultivation of genetically engineered plants. Results from the project were first presented at a conference on 25 February 2015, including some results from investigations into contamination in the food chain. PRICE experts took samples from bread baked with maize and sold in Portugal. Altogether, they analysed 16 bread samples from seven regions. All the samples were contaminated with genetically engineered maize MON810 and NK603. Some of them showed a content of genetically engineered maize of up to ten percent. A lack of control in the supply chain was presumed to be the cause. Genetically engineered maize MON810 is grown on an area of around 8500 hectares in Portugal. Added to this there are also imports from the US.

None of this is mentioned in the recent PRICE media release. Instead, reference is made to small scale field trials in Spain. In these trials, buffer zones and new methods of cultivation were investigated, most of them are not part of mainstream practice as yet. These measures have reportedly had some success in preventing contamination in other fields. The PRICE media release, goes on to claim that current measures implemented to ensure coexistence in the EU “are practically feasible, both at the farm level and along the supply chain”. The media release was published without the final report itself being published.

“This PRICE media release appears to be some kind of propaganda. Instead of raising awareness of the contamination found under practical conditions, PRICE is referring to field trials and statistical modelling that indicate that contamination should not be a problem at all”, Christoph Then of Testbiotech comments ”It is also not in line with scientific standards to issue a media release before publication of a report or peer reviewed publication.“

The coordinator of PRICE is Justus Wesseler from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Another PRICE expert is Joachim Schiemann from the Julius Kühn-Institute in Germany. Both experts are also involved in the EU project GRACE, which has several times drawn criticism from Testbiotech for its lack of adequate standards in avoiding conflicts of interest. Justus Wesseler and Joachim Schiemann are members of several other organisations which have close affiliations with industry such as PRRI (Public Research and Regulation Initiative). PRRI received funding from the Syngenta Foundation, CropLife International, the US Grain Council, Monsanto and Arborgen.

Already in 2014, Wesseler was criticised for his study on so-called “Golden Rice”, in which he made the unfounded claim that criticts of the genetically engineered rice were responsible for deaths of 1.4 million people in India during the last last ten years.

“Again and again we see same pattern: Industry heavily trying to influence public opinion on genetically engineered plants in agriculture. And to make matters worse, the EU Commission is even funding some of those activities with taxpayers’ money “, says Christoph Then for Testbiotech.

Contact: Christoph Then, Tel.: 0049 (0) 151 56438040, info@testbiotech.org