A Taste of Wellness for Savoury and Snacks
Givaudan
At a council meeting of European agriculture ministers this week Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands all agreed with Denmark and Italy on the need to collect and disseminate information on GM crops at a European level.
Denmark and Italy, both traditional opponents of biotech foods, contend that the EU needs a special task force to assist member states in deciding how their farmers should separate conventional, organic and GM crops.
Identifying research requirements concerning co-existence should be done at a pan-European level, stated the member states, pointing to the need to set limit values for labelling GMOs in seeds, reports CORDIS .
The council stated that all 15 countries suggested: "The decision by the Commission to include 17 genetically modified types of maize in the common catalogue of varieties should have been taken only once the Commission's report on experience with the Member States' implementation of the rules governing co-existence has been published."
According to the CORDIS report Franz Fischler, outgoing EU farm commissioner to be replaced when the new Commission team arrives in November under Barosso, welcomed the proposal to adopt a law on co-existence at national level and suggested creating a network between member states to exchange information.