1.GM crops row splits Italian government
2.Berlusconi opens door to GMO foods
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1.GM crops row splits Italian government
John Hooper in Rome
The Guardian, October 12, 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1325178,00.html

Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government was split last night on the issue of genetically modified crops, and farmers warned that delays in agreeing rules could lead to next year's Italian harvests being unintentionally "contaminated".

The dispute has cut across traditional loyalties, pushing growers, environmentalists, leftwingers and nationalist-minded "post-fascists" into an unlikely alliance. Opinion among farmers and the public is overwhelmingly opposed to the introduction of GM seeds.

But at the weekend Mr Berlusconi personally scotched an attempt by his agriculture minister to impose stringent restrictions on the cultivation of GM crops. Last month, the European Union added the first genetically modified strains to its common seed catalogue, opening the way for farmers throughout the continent to plant them.

The agriculture minister, Giovanni Alemanno, a member of the post-fascist National Alliance, responded by drawing up an emergency decree laying down guidelines for the planting of GM crops.

After the cabinet broke up last week without an agreement on Mr Alemanno's proposed order, the prime minister doomed the measure by publicly branding it "illiberal". The agriculture minister declared that "if it proves impossible to get it through cabinet we shall have to find other ways".

Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party espouses the same free trade principles invoked by the US and Canada in support of genetically modified agriculture. But the prime minister's stance has also prompted criticism from within his own party. The Forza Italia governor of Piedmont, Enzo Ghigo, said: "We feel the exercise of liberty is in allowing producers and consumers to decide what they wish to grow and eat."
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2.Berlusconi opens door to GMO foods
ANSA.it, October 10, 2004
http://www.ansa.it/main/collezioni/maincollection/fattidelgiorno/200410091345169099/20041009134433112295_ass.html

GENOA - Premier Silvio Berlusconi was cited as saying that the Italian government's decision to block tough new measures aimed at protecting
traditional Italian agriculture against the encroachment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) was motivated by the need to guarantee citizens greater freedom of choice.

Speaking at the opening of the 44th edition of the Genoa Boat Show, Berlusconi was quoted as explaining that "on every measure we seek to adopt I ask myself if this increases or diminishes individual freedoms. If it diminishes them then the measure does not go forward. And this is what
happened regarding GMOs."

The cabinet yesterday postponed to an unspecified future date the approval of GMO measures which had been drawn up by Agriculture Minister Giovanni Alemanno.

Alemanno was cited as telling reporters later that some ministers objected that the measures were "too restrictive" and suggested they also encroached on the power of regional governments.

The Italian Organic Farmers' Association AIAB, was cited as expressing dismay over the postponement, saying the move gave the impression the government "has the economic interests of the multinationals more to heart than the future of Italian agriculture."