Copenhagen, Denmark
September 10, 2009

Tardiness and a policy of absolutely zero tolerance towards GMOs are damaging to food supplies in the EU, says Eva Kjer Hansen. At a meeting of the Council of Ministers 7 September she called on the EU Commission to propose a solution.

At Monday's Council of Ministers meeting, the EU Commission warned that there will soon be a lack of soy and maize crops, which are used for fodder and food production. A poor harvest in South America has led to a lower supply of these crops.

Danish food Minister Eva Kjer Hansen believes that the Commission and the Council of Ministers should work together to speed up the approval of new, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and that the Commission should solve the food industry's problems arising from the EU's policy of absolutely zero tolerance with regard to GMOs that are not approved by the EU.

In recent weeks, this zero tolerance policy has led to the return of loads of non-GMO crops for food production because they contained minute quantities of particles from unapproved GMOs. Zero tolerance means that the loads cannot be imported even though they pose no health risks, and despite the fact that the GMO particles amount to less than 0.1% of the load. The GMO particles typically come from previous transports.

“The rigid interpretation of the zero tolerance policy is a technical problem that may have serious economic consequences for food supplies in the whole of the EU,” says Eva Kjer Hansen. “In many of the countries that export raw materials to us, the production of GMO crops is large and growing. When we import GMO-free raw materials the producers in these countries find it more and more difficult to guarantee that there are no residual GMO particles from earlier transports in their containers. There are no health-related arguments to support the zero tolerance policy, so I hope that it will be possible for the Commission to find a solution to the problem as soon as possible.”

She points out that zero tolerance causes problems in the whole food supply chain, from the producer to the consumer.

“There is a risk that no producer can or will guarantee that the raw materials are completely free from unapproved GMOs,” the Food Minister says. “The zero tolerance policy thus creates problems for securing our food supply and for the whole of the food chain. Also for businesses that produce GMO-free food.”

The Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries will publish a report that collates and updates the knowledge about GMOs this month, and the Food Minister hosts a conference on 18 September, where the report will be discussed.

Website: http://www.fvm.dk

Published: September 10, 2009