COMMENT: The EU has now ended its so called "zero tolerance" approach to unauthorised GM imports in GM animal feed – see below.

 

This means that GM material that hasn't been determined "safe" – even by inadequate EU standards (courtesy of the EU regulators, EFSA) – can now be mixed into GM animal feed in the EU.

 

GM animal feed is obviously issue enough in itself, but if anything did ever go wrong, EFSA would have to accept liability for approving it. Who will take liability for anything going wrong now that animal feed may contain unapproved GMOs?

 

TAKE ACTION: Please write to EU supermarkets. UK supermarket email and address details are available from http://www.gmfreeze.org/take-action/resources/useful-addresses/useful-addresses-food-retailers/

 

And tell them

 

"Not only do I not want to eat GM fed meat and dairy, but I certainly don't want to eat unapproved GM! You really must move away from GM  animal feed, and meantime label your non GM fed lines."

 

Also ask

 

"Who is now in charge of determining whether GM feed is safe? EFSA seems to have passed responsibility to anybody else who might like it... ie, ultimately the GM companies themselves"

 

Non-GM feed will be unaffected, as non GM maize and soya are grown in segregated areas away from GM crops and have to pass an IP system that verifies that they have no GM content, authorised or unauthorised.

 

You can avoid GM free fed meat and dairy by choosing where you shop. For the UK see http://www.gmfreeze.org/why-freeze/unwanted/where-buy-non-gm-fed/

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Reuters, June 24 2011

 

* Bloc allows 0.1 pct unapproved GM material

 

* Threshold applies only to imports of feed, not food

 

The European Union adopted new rules on Friday allowing traces of unapproved genetically modified (GM) material in animal feed imports, in a bid to secure grain fodder supplies to the import-dependent bloc.

 

"The regulation ... addresses the current uncertainty EU operators face when placing on the market feed products imported from third countries," the Commission said in a statement.

 

The EU and its trading partners – backed by industry – argue the 0.1 percent threshold is needed to avoid a repeat of supply disruptions in 2009, when U.S. soy shipments to Europe were blocked after unapproved GM material was found in some cargoes.

 

But environmental campaigners and consumer groups have accused the EU of caving in to GM-industry lobbying by reversing its "zero-tolerance" policy on unauthorised GM crops.

 

Some environmentalists argue that the effect of consuming GM crops is unknown and say these varieties have not completed the EU's safety assessment process.

 

The GM crops in question must have been approved in a non-EU producing country and an EU authorisation request must have been lodged with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for at least three months.

 

EFSA must also have issued an opinion that the presence of GM products at 0.1 percent does not pose risks to health or the environment.

 

The 0.1 percent threshold will only apply to imports of animal feed and not human food, despite warnings from traders and exporting states that it is impractical and costly to separate global grain supplies into those destined for humans and those for animals.

 

The EU currently imports some 45 million tonnes of protein crops a year, much of it soy beans and soy meal from Brazil , Argentina and the U.S. destined for use as animal feed.

 

The majority of soy beans grown in these countries are GM varieties developed by biotech companies such as Monsanto .

 

A majority of EU governments are reported to be in favour of a similar threshold for food imports, but the Commission has said it currently has no plans to table such a proposal. (Reporting by Charlie Dunmore; editing by Jason Neely)