Anti-GMO: European Victory

BASF quit. The German chemicals and biotech giant, who had been fighting hard for 13 years to get approval for Amflora, its genetically modified starched-up potato for industrial use, is giving up on the European market for GMO (genetically modified organisms). The reason? “A lack of acceptance from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians,” said Stefan Marcinowski, a BASF board member. “Therefore, it does not make business sense to continue investing in products exclusively for cultivation in this market.”

BASF is moving its plant science headquarters from Limburgerhof, Germany, to Raleigh, North Carolina.

The decision occurred 18 months after an attempt by the European Commission to put an end to a 12-year moratorium on GM crops by allowing individual countries to decide whether or not to grow GM crops. Seemingly, that initiative is not going anywhere, and BASF decided to finally cut its losses, and move to greener pastures. The company said that it has decided to focus on “attractive markets”… in the Americas and in Asia.

Kudos to consumers, farmers, even elected officials for getting their voices heard. The European anti-GMO movement has been very vocal for a very long time, and their victory is inspiring. In fact, it feels like nothing short of a sweet vindication after the disclosure one year ago, thanks to WikiLeaks, of the involvement of the American government into strong-arming the European Union to open its market to GMO – more precisely, to genetically modified (GM) seeds developed by American company Monsanto.

Only one other GM crop, a breed of maize (corn) developed by Monsanto that produces the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insect toxin, is currently approved for cultivation in Europe. Meanwhile, the 1998 moratorium on GM crops is on.

Now that BASF has given up on the European GMO market, it will be interesting to see what new twist Monsanto pulls out of its hat. The biotech giant is not short of allies in the scientific and media circles. Beware of (misleading) messages deploring the “backward” mentality of these anti-GM ignorant crowds, who fight the best that science has to offer to overcome hunger and environmental degradation, and flaunting Monsanto’s commitment to “sustainable agriculture.” Now, you wouldn’t want to “support” hunger, now, would you?

More seriously, here’s to hoping that this turn of event energizes American consumers who are demanding, at the very least, that GMO food be labeled.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Eric L.

4:14PM PST on Jan 24, 2012

Anonymous Takes Down Monsanto.com
http://www.organiccommonsense.com/organic/anonymous-takes-down-monsanto-com/

Anonymous Message To Monsanto; We fight for farmers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q1A-DYK4M4Q

To Monsanto, we demand you STOP the following:

Contaminating the global food chain with GMO’s.
Intimidating small farmers with bullying and lawsuits.
Propagating the use of destructive pesticides and herbicides across the globe.
Using “Terminator Technology”, which renders plants sterile.
Attempting to hijack UN climate change negotiations for your own fiscal benefit.
Reducing farmland to desert through monoculture and the use of synthetic fertilizers.
Inspiring suicides of hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers.
Causing birth defects by continuing to produce the pesticide “Round-up”
Attempting to bribe foriegn officials
Infiltrating anti-GMO groups

send a green star

Sue H.

10:14AM PST on Jan 23, 2012

Seems the European Governments are far more intelligent than ours are.

CC C.

8:30AM PST on Jan 22, 2012

Sharon L. You are So Correct.
Didn't you know that is not a crime to experiment on Americans. Yes, it is in our Constitution.

Jim R.

7:12PM PST on Jan 21, 2012

This is such good news! We WILL win the battle! We are not monsters for Dr. Frankenstein to experiment on!

Jenny S.

4:31AM PST on Jan 21, 2012

As a European that's been against GMOs since adolescence (thanks, Mum!), this makes me happy and proud. Let's hope there are other victories to come, at the very least when it comes to labelling.

2:06PM PST on Jan 20, 2012

At least their government has the people's health above corporate greed, the US on the other hand.

But where the government fails we can push companies to voluntarily label.
http://www.nongmoproject.org/take-action/make-a-product-verification-request/

roseann s.

8:45PM PST on Jan 19, 2012

Europe here i come

Jeanne B.

11:47AM PST on Jan 19, 2012

It shows European consumers' basic common sense. Who would want to eat genetically modified anything if given a choice, seriously?

Emily L.

11:35AM PST on Jan 19, 2012

way to go Europe! I wish that would happen here...

Ashlee B.

7:47AM PST on Jan 19, 2012

Awesome for Europe! :D Now we just need to do it here...