Industry Welcomes European Parliament Hearing
on Green Biotech - Ten years of safe and sustainable GM crops production
Brussels, 10 October 2006: On the 10th
anniversary of safe and sustainable farming with green biotechnology
EuropaBio welcomes the European Parliament’s public hearing:
Biotechnology: Prospects and Challenges for Agriculture in Europe.
EuropaBio strongly supports fora such as this Parliamentary hearing that
look to examine the arguments for and against GM farming in a
methodical, sensible fashion, using science-based research to drive the
discussion.
GM crops approved following rigorous safety assessments, have been grown
around the world commercially for 10 years. They have been consumed for
over 10 years with not one single recorded negative health incident.
Currently, biotech crops are grown in five EU countries (Czech Rep,
France, Germany, Portugal & Spain). The evidence is that European
countries and public opinion are increasingly less negative and more
open to biotech crops. Yet a small minority of Member States are trying
to block the growth in acceptance of biotech crops in Europe and deny
European consumers and farmers the choice to use labelled, safe
products.
In an increasingly globalised and competitive world, EuropaBio believes
it is important to encourage companies to bring innovative products to
market for the benefit of both farmers and consumers. The future
competitiveness of Europe’s agricultural and food processing industries
will depend on plant genomics, biotechnology and their smart
application. Europe’s position in this arena is declining as a
consequence of the political inertia caused by the polarised and
increasingly heated debate between opponents and advocates.
Benefits of GM crop production include:
-
Improved yields and increased food security
while cutting the use of spraying, minimising the soil erosion that
conventional weed control methods entail, and reducing carbon
emissions through reduced reliance on fuel-intensive crop maintenance.
-
In a study by PG Economics[i] published in
October 2005 farmers using the technology increased their income by
US$27 billion during the period 1996 to 2004 with significant,
additional environmental benefits delivered; the accumulative economic
benefits during the nine years to developing countries ($15 billion),
exceeded benefits to industrial countries ($12 billion) (1)
-
Benefits for the environment, consumers, farmers
and European competitiveness (2)
For more information, contact
Adeline Farrelly
Tel: +32 2 735 0313 Direct: +32 2 739 1174 Mobile: +32 475 93 17 24
Email: a.farrelly@europabio.org
Simon Barber, Tel: +32 2 735 0313 Direct: +32 2 739 1172 Mobile: +32 476
44 24 20
Email: s.barber@europabio.org
About EuropaBio
EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, has 60 direct
members operating worldwide and 25 national biotechnology associations
representing some 1500 small and medium sized enterprises involved in
research and development, testing, manufacturing and distribution of
biotechnology products.
http://www.europabio.org
(1) GM Crops: The Global Economic and Environmental Impact - The First
Nine Years 1996 - 2004. AgBioForum 8 (2&3): 187-196 (2005) (PDF 242 kb)
http://www.pgeconomics.co.uk/pdf/v8n23a15-brookes.pdf
(2) http://www.europabio.org/documents/06Benefits%20Brochure.pdf
