Greece is enforcing its option of an opt-out law that is included in a U.S.-EU deal that allows the US mega grower access to European crops.
Under a law signed in March individual EU countries can seek exclusion from any approval request for genetically modified cultivation across the EU. Specifically, Monsanto sought approval to grow its MON810, a type of pest-resistant corn.
But Greece said no way.
The EU law allows member states to decide themselves, a stipulation that has angered the United States, which wants Europe to open its doors fully to American GM crops as part of a planned EU-U.S. free trade deal.
In a statement this week, the European Commission confirmed that so far only Latvia and Greece had asked for opt-outs from Monsanto’s request to grow their GM crops.
Monsanto fired back at Greece and Latvia, stating that their decision “contradicts and undermines the scientific consensus on the safety” of GM products.
“Nevertheless, we regret that some countries are deviating from a science-based approach to innovation in agriculture and have elected to prohibit the cultivation of a successful GM product on arbitrary political grounds,” the statement said.
10 comments
Monsanto all it does is cut your profit (like your not making enough and making people sick ) it has nothing to do with science .We the people know this so stop with your lies.WE WANT REAL FOOD THAT IS HEALTHY FOR US NOT POISON
There is so much ignorance and left-wing hysteria in your post. GM food has never made people sick, in fact it is more resistant to illness . It is the only hope for a planet that has an exploding population that needs to be fed. “We the people” are unforgivingly ignorant to science and would rather blame “the corporations” for all their imagines woes.
Stop smoking your genetically modified pot and educate yourself from somewhere else than old Oprah programs and Mother Jones magazine.
Don’t let this monster into our beautiful Greece, it will destroy and people will be dying like every where else Monsanto has put their roots in. The whole world should start to uproot this cancer out of the ground and burn this monster.
where exactly are people dying because of Monsanto? please provide credible source over hysteria.
and who cares if Monsanto is American or European? does this make a bit of difference?
you’ve got the tragic zeal and lack of knowledge reminiscent of ISIS. I bet you think vaccines kill, too.
Monsanto is not a U.S. company. It’s an EU company.
Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation headquartered in Creve Coeur, Greater St. Louis, Missouri.
if the GM corn is so bad, I would like to know why. The GM plants are not always bad for the enviroment, there are some exeptions, Monsanto related, but most of the GM are designed to solve some of the most often problems that present all over the world; very dry places, freezing temperatures, very agresive plages. But the extremist ecologyst said things that are not scientifically based for everyone be afraid of the GM plants, I´m not saying that they are all heart with beautifull intentions, but they are not the devil himself neither
I thinks it´s a polemical issue not only if this good or not for our health to consume genetically modified food, that depends on every person to consume the product but there are proof of this genetically modified crops contaminate another crops and I think Greece has the right to not allow this kind of product in the country.