GM Watch
  • Main Menu
    • Home
    • News
      • Newsletter subscription
      • News Reviews
      • News Languages
        • Notícias em Português
        • Nieuws in het Nederlands
        • Nachrichten in Deutsch
      • Archive
    • Resources
      • GM Myth Makers
      • Non-GM successes
      • GM Quotes
      • GM Myths
      • GM Firms
        • Monsanto: a history
        • Monsanto: resources
        • Bayer: a history
        • Bayer: resources
      • GM Booklet
      • GM Book
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donations
News and comment on genetically modified foods and their associated pesticides    
  • News
    • Newsletter subscription
    • News Reviews
    • News Languages
      • Notícias em Português
      • Nieuws in het Nederlands
      • Nachrichten in Deutsch
    • Archive
  • Resources
    • Non-GM Successes
    • GM Myth Makers
    • GM Quotes
    • GM Myths
    • GM Firms
      • Monsanto: a history
      • Monsanto: resources
      • Bayer: a history
      • Bayer: resources
    • GM Booklet
    • GM Book
  • Donations
  • Contact
  • About

INTRODUCTION TO GM

GMO Myths and Facts front page.jpg

GENE EDITING MYTHS, RISKS, & RESOURCES

Gene Editing Myths and Reality

GM contamination scandal in Germany

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Published: 18 September 2007
Twitter

Rapeseed: GM Contamination Scandal in Germany
Coalition against Bayer Dangers, Press Release, September 18 2007

BAYER product found in conventional seeds / European authorities urged to pull back approval

German authorities have found genetically modified rapeseed in conventional crops. A spokesperson for the environmental minister of North Rhine-Westphalia stated that consignments from the company Deutsche Saatgutveredlung contained seeds tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate. Glufosinate is sold by the German company Bayer CropScience under the trademarks LIBERTY and BASTA. About 1500 hectares have already been planted with the genetically modified crops. The origin of the contamination is unclear.

Jan Pehrke from the Coalition against Bayer Dangers comments: "Neither seed merchants nor farmers are responsible for this mess. Bayer must take responsibility for the organisms it created and must pay for the damage." Bayer is the world market leader for pesticides. The company sells a variety of crops resistant to glufosinate, including rice, cotton, corn and soybeans. "The incident shows that risks linked with modified crops cannot be controlled in the long term", Pehrke continues. "We call for a stringent application of the precautionary principle. Contamination will continue to spread unless strict controls are enforced and zero contamination of seed is the norm."

The European Union approved imports of rapeseeds tolerant to glufosinate in March 2007. An application to grow modified oilseed rape was, however, rejected in 2004 on environmental grounds. Bayer also applied for permission to import genetically modified rice and soybean. In a similar way to the recent contamination of American long-grain rice, the current case probably goes back to field trials conducted in the late nineties.

Since the cultivation of GM rapeseed is forbidden in Europe, German authorities ruled that the plants have to be destroyed immediately. As the contamination probably was not detected for several years it is highly probable that further areas are affected. The Coalition against Bayer Dangers demands that no further GM crops be approved and demands a cancellation of the import approval for glufosinate resistant rapeseed.

Further information:

EU Removes Five GM Corn and Rapeseed Varieties
http://www.cbgnetwork.org/1878.html

Australian Approval of Bayer's GM Canola Stalled by States
http://www.cbgnetwork.org/371.html

Bayer's GM Oilseed Rape: Negative Impact on Wildlife
http://www.cbgnetwork.org/467.html

EU-wide application to grow Bayer´s GMO oilseed rape rejected on environmental grounds
http://www.cbgnetwork.org/343.html

Coalition against BAYER Dangers
www.CBGnetwork.org

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: (+49) 211-333 911 Fax: (+49) 211-333 940

Advisory Board
Prof. Juergen Junginger, designer, Krefeld,
Prof. Dr. Juergen Rochlitz, chemist, former member of the Bundestag, Burgwald
Wolfram Esche, attorney, Cologne
Dr. Sigrid Müller, pharmacologist, Bremen
Eva Bulling-Schroeter, member of the Bundestag, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Anton Schneider, biologist, Neubeuern
Dorothee Sölle, theologian, Hamburg (died 2003)
Dr. Janis Schmelzer, historian, Berlin
Dr. Erika Abczynski, pediatrician, Dormagen

Menu

Home

Subscriptions

News Archive

News Reviews

GM Book

Resources

Non-GM Successes

GM Myth Makers

GM Myths

GM Quotes

GM Booklet

Contacts

Contact Us

About

Facebook

Twitter

Donations

Content 1999 - 2025 GMWatch.
Web Development By SCS Web Design