New legal rules which change the way that GM crops are approved within the European Union have come into force.
The controversial proposals which move much of the power to approve GM crops to Member States were published in the Official Journal of the EU on 13th March and came into force on 23rd March. EU health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said the new rules would, “Allow a better expression of democratically elected governments’ views.”
However, both pro- and anti-GM groups have criticised the compromise measures. Previously SNP MEP Alyn Smith criticised the law as a, “Trojan horse riddled with loopholes.”
Beat Späth, Director of agricultural biotechnology at EuropaBio, which represents the interests of the GM sector said; “This license to ban cultivation of GM crops is a step backwards for the EU. It enables Member States to formally reject safe EU approved products, based on arbitrary and non-scientific reasons.”