"Scientists should be on tap, not on top." - Winston Churchill

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Italy Lifts Ban on Engineered Food Research After Rome Protest

Rome, Feb. 14 <aol://4344:30.bloombrg.389091.602536905>(Bloomberg) - Italy's ruling center-left coalition revoked a partial ban on research  into genetically altered crops after a protest yesterday in Rome by 1,500 scientists, the Italian newspaper Il Sole/24 Ore reported.

The government will set up a panel of experts to oversee ``open air'' research, and a separate committee to draw up within two months new biotechnology guidelines, the paper said. Until now, research has been limited to laboratories and greenhouses.

A delegation led by Nobel Prize winner Rita Levi Montalcini met yesterday with Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and Agriculture Minister  Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio to protest the ban, arguing that its existence threatens Italy's biotechnology industry, Il Sole reported.

The European Parliament is due to vote today on a proposal to offer  10-year renewable licenses for the cultivation of genetically modified crops. Legislators will also decide on plans to phase out antibiotic-resistant plants by 2004 and introduce tighter risk-assessment guidelines.

France -- backed by Denmark -- has asked Italy, Luxembourg and Greece to support a declaration suspending authorizations of genetically altered  crops until the European Commission approves laws that trace and label the organisms.

Together, the five nations have blocked EU approvals since 1998,  frustrating attempts by companies such as Monsanto Co. of the U.S. and Switzerland's Syngenta AG to sell gene-altered crops in Europe.

(Il Sole/24 Ore 2/14 p.1)

Feb/14/2001 4:01 ET

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