France Bans GMO

It’s a boost to anti-GMO activists to know when other regions of the world are successfully banning GMO seeds and cultivation and resisting the rush to finish off the world’s agricultural food chain. No, labeling alone won’t do it. The latest; France’s agriculture ministry banned the sale, use, and cultivation of Monsanto’s MON 810 genetically modified maize, currently authorized in the EU.

By the time labeling laws are enacted and if enough people are educated on GMO dangers, the game may be over when all crops are contaminated by GMOs from other fields. Labeling implies co-existence, but when it truly comes down to it, co-existence is not an option. Banning is the only solution, one county, state, or country at a time.

Of course, banning GMOs in the USA on a federal level is impossible as long as Monsanto has it’s man Michael Taylor, former Monsanto attorney, lobbyist, and vice-president as well as high ranking FDA official who is currently the “Food Czar” in Obama’s executive branch. Yes, Obama selected him. That’s why in America, banning has to occur on local levels. And that’s what has begun recently, here and elsewhere.

The French Ministry of Agriculture issued an emergency decree this March, 2014 just in time to prevent Mon 810 from being planted in France. Normal corn sowing season begins in March. The decree stated:


“The sale, use and cultivation of varieties of maize seed from the line of genetically modified maize MON 810 is banned in the country until the adoption, on the one hand, of a final decision, and secondly, of [EU] community action.”

The decree added that emergency legislation was needed “given the proximity of the beginning of the planting season.” This effort, however heroic, can be construed as based on precautionary principal, which may lead to a complete ban in France and perhaps bring down the EU Commission’s desire to continue with Mon 810 throughout Europe. The EU Commission’s legislative electoral process favors larger nations in Europe.

Because of this, in February 2014, despite 19 EU member states voting against authorizing the cultivation of Dow Chemical and Dupont’s Pioneer 1507, the EU Commission railroaded approval of this GMO maize (corn) similar to MON 810. This is part of a lopsided voting arrangement in the European Union.




It seems England and Spain are all for genetically engineering, but most EU nations are against it. Perhaps this English farmer’s video interviewing disgruntled American farmers affected by Monsanto should be seen by the Brits.

France is the home of the University of Caen, Institute of Biology, where Gilles-Eric Seralini and his intrepid band of researchers conducted the two most publicly controversial studies on both Mon 810 and the Roundup herbicide its designed to protect against.

One study mimicked exactly the same study Monsanto used in a 90 day trial to get EU Commission approval for MON 810 maize. But the Caen study went long term, two years instead of 90 days. That was the rats with large tumors study, highly disputed by GMO advocates, but supported by the independent scientific community.

Source:
http://naturalsociety.com/