EC pushes Smartstax maize -- untested, unwanted and illegal
Date Added to website 20th June 2013
These items (from Testbiotech and Reuters) indicate the lengths to which EFSA and the Commission will go to satisfy Monsanto, Dow and the American biotech lobby. Testbiotech has raised the dangers of Smartstax maize before, and the organization alerted the member states prior to the discussion of the EFSA recommendation for approval on 10th June. It's not clear whether their warnings had any effect -- but in the event there was no qualified majority, and so the matter now goes to an Appeals Committee -- which will also probably not come to a decision. So the EC will then follow EFSA advice and issue a consent. However, as pointed out by Testbiotech, Smartstax maize has never been tested properly, and nobody has any idea what the combinatorial effects might be from the six toxins contained in these GM plants and from the built-in tolerance to two herbicides. EFSA has simply assumed that because it "knows" the traits from previous experience, there will be no unpredicted effects from either growing or consuming the GM maize. That is bad science. So Smartstax maize is untested either for safety or environmental impacts, and is thus in breach of the EU regulations. It should not even be considered for approval, let alone given consent. We support Testbiotech in this matter, and consider that if the Commission does give consent for this maize to be imported and used in food and feed, that will be an act of gross irresponsibility, as well as being illegal.
EU COMMISSION WANTS TO ALLOW GE MAIZE SMARTSTAX
Testbiotech, Germany
http://www.testbiotech.de/en/node/817
03.06.2013
SUMMARY: "On 10 June, the EU Commission and representatives from EU Member States are set to discuss and probably vote on the market authorisation of the genetically engineered maize SmartStax for use in food and feed. SmartStax is a joint Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences product that produces six insecticidal proteins and is tolerant to two herbicides. [...] In December 2012, Testbiotech raised the alarm warning that the maize might have already entered the market illegally. Instead of stopping imports, the Commission is now pressing ahead by trying to force a decision through allowing SmartStax for use in food and feed."
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Munich/Brussels - On 10 June, the EU Commission and representatives from EU Member States are set to discuss and probably vote on the market authorisation of the genetically engineered maize SmartStax for use in food and feed. SmartStax is a joint Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences product that produces six insecticidal proteins and is tolerant to two herbicides. Although dossiers from the industry showed substantial flaws its market authorisation was viewed favourably by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2010. For example, combinatorial effects between the insecticidal toxins and the residues from spraying were never investigated. So far, SmartStax is not authorised for sale on the EU market. In December 2012, Testbiotech raised the alarm warning that the maize might have already entered the market illegally. Instead of stopping imports, the Commission is now pressing ahead by trying to force a decision through allowing SmartStax for use in food and feed.
"This is a serious violation of consumers´ interests", says Christoph Then for Testbiotech. "EU Commissioner Tonio Borg should think about whose interests he is acting in. Monsanto has only just announced that it will no longer file applications for new genetically engineered plants in the EU, so why is this plant that produces multiple toxins about to be allowed in food and feed?"
As early as 2010, Testbiotech, warned that the risk assessment of SmartStax was seriously flawed and at the same time published some of the industry´s dossiers, which had been leaked to it. Since that SmartStax was never authorised in the EU, but neither was any action taken to prevent the maize from being imported, especially from the US where it is grown extensively. Laboratories and experts working for the authorities informed Testbiotech that there is no effective method to test specifically for SmartStax, which can easily be mistaken for other kinds genetically engineered maize. For this reason, we urged the EU Commission to take measures against it being imported. Meanwhile, due to Tonio Borg‚s failure to respond, Testbiotech has filed a complaint with the EU Ombudsman. Testbiotech believes that because of the way in which the EU Commission is now trying to legalise SmartStax, this must considered as indirect proof that it has in fact already entered the market.
Besides SmartStax, the authorisation of several other genetically engineered maize plants with various technical DNA combinations will be discussed at the meeting and also voted probably. Allowing pollen from GE maize MON810 on to the market is another item on the agenda despite the fact that industry has not provided any specific data on its risks. So far, this pollen is considered to be illegal if it is found in food products such as honey.
SmartStax combines various insecticidal toxins that were originally found only in soil bacteria. It is grown in the US because pest insects there have increasingly adapted to genetically engineered plants that produce just single toxins. One of the six toxins in SmartStax (Cry1A105), is artificially synthesised from several bacterial proteins and does not have a true homology in nature. In addition, it is resistant to glyphosate herbicides (brands such as Roundup) and glufosinate (brands such as Liberty). The risks of this stacked maize have never been fully investigated. There was, for example, one trial where poultry was fed with the kernels for just 42 days in order to observe weight gain. The authorities handling market application in the EU have however never received any results from feeding trials with kernels or plants designed to investigate health effects. There has been no investigation of combinatorial effects between the residues from spraying with the herbicides and the insecticidal proteins as produced by the plants. Several of the dossiers produced by industry do not fulfill normal scientific standards. Consequently, Testbiotech considers this maize unsafe.
Testbiotech is demanding a new and comprehensive risk assessment of SmartStax, that the authorization procedure be stopped and efficient measures implemented to stop its import into the EU. For this reason an e-mail alert has been started to prevent the EU Commission from allowing SmartStax to be sold in the EU.
Further information:
Agenda of the meeting of the EU Commission with member states
http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/standing_committees/sc_modif_genet/docs/ag10062013_en.pdf
Backgrounder on the maize imports
http://www.testbiotech.de/node/751
More background on risk assessment of SmartStax
http://www.testbiotech.de/en/node/515
Correspondence with EU Commission and complaint to the EU Ombudsman
http://www.testbiotech.de/node/813
Briefing on risk assessment of pollen from GE maize MON810
http://www.testbiotech.org/node/766
E-mail alert to prevent the EU Commission from allowing SmartStax to be sold in the EU:
http://www.testbiotech.de/en/smartstax
EU STATES DEADLOCKED ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED MAIZE APPROVALS
Thomson Reuters, USA
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/eu-gmo-approvals-idINL5N0EH38B20130610
10.06.2013
SUMMARY: "European Union governments failed to agree on Monday whether to approve three genetically modified maize varieties for use in food and feed, the European Commission said. [...] If the appeal committee is also unable to reach agreement, the Commission will be free to grant EU marketing approval. Two of the applications are for maize varieties containing multiple or "stacked‰ gene traits, designed to protect the growing plants from multiple insect pests and make them herbicide-tolerant. Both products were developed jointly by Monsanto Co and Dow Chemical Co."
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- Authorisations are to cover sale in food and feed
- Stalemate means decision passes to appeal committee
(Reuters) - European Union governments failed to agree on Monday whether to approve three genetically modified maize varieties for use in food and feed, the European Commission said.
The failure of the bloc‚s standing committee on food chain and animal health to reach a majority either for or against means the decisions will pass to an appeal committee over the coming weeks, a spokesman for the Commission said.
If the appeal committee is also unable to reach agreement, the Commission will be free to grant EU marketing approval.
Two of the applications are for maize varieties containing multiple or "stacked ‰ gene traits, designed to protect the growing plants from multiple insect pests and make them herbicide-tolerant. Both products were developed jointly by Monsanto Co and Dow Chemical Co.
Neither variety is approved for cultivation in Europe. The authorisation would cover the use of imports in food and feed products sold in Europe, although there is little or no demand for genetically modified food among EU consumers.
The third approval covers the pollen of Monsanto‚s insect-resistant MON810 maize, the only genetically modified crop currently grown commercially in Europe.
The bid for approval followed a ruling by the Europe‚s highest court in 2011 that even small traces of the pollen in honey must receive EU authorisation before the product can be sold.
Five of the 27 European Union member states grew MON810 maize on 129,000 hectares in 2012, data from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) showed. Spain was the top producer, followed by Portugal, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania