O governo alemão proibiu a venda para sementeira do milho MON 810 (o único que até agora tinha autorização de cultivo na Alemanha) enquanto não existir um plano de monitorização do seu impacto ambiental. O governo americano, subserviente como sempre dos interesses da Monsanto, já protestou. Não é claro de que forma tal medida irá afectar as culturas já semeadas este ano, nem se a Monsanto conseguirá satisfazer os requisitos a tempo do próximo ano. Em todo o caso parece óbvio que os riscos ambientais deste milho transgénico estão a vir ao de cima cada vez com mais clareza.

Segue abaixo a notícia original:

CRACKDOWN ON MONSANTO SEEDS
Germany Tightens Restrictions on Genetically Modified Corn
Der Spiegel
May 9 2007

The German government has imposed stricter regulations on the food
company Monsanto regarding the sale of genetically modified corn seeds.
The new rules are tantamount to an outright ban.

Genetically modified (GM) crops have long been controversial in Germany,
where organic agriculture is booming. Now the cultivation of GM corn has
been effectively banned by the government, according to media reports.

In its Wednesday edition, the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel reports that
it has obtained a letter sent from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture
to the agricultural company Monsanto, which sells the GM corn MON 810 —
which has been legal in Germany up until now — as seed. In the letter,
the ministry writes that GM corn from the MON 810 product line can only
be delivered to third parties if the firm also provides an accompanying
monitoring plan which researches the effects on the environment. The
German news agency DPA also reported Wednesday they had obtained a copy
of the same letter.

“This amounts to a de facto ban on the cultivation of genetically
modified corn,” said Peter Rudolph, who is responsible for genetic
technology in the Brandenburg state ministry of agriculture, in remarks
to Der Tagesspiegel Tuesday. He said the letter basically means Monsanto
will no longer be allowed to sell MON 810, as the company has not
presented any monitoring plan up until now. Brandenburg is the German
state with the largest quantity of GM corn under cultivation.

In the letter, the federal ministry justifies its decision by writing
that new information “gives reasons to suppose that the cultivation of
MON 810 poses a danger to the environment.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture told the newspaper that
the letter should not be interpreted as a ban, but rather as a
tightening of the regulations concerning the cultivation of the GM corn.

The new ruling could mean that crops already planted may not be allowed
to be harvested. Brandenburg farmer Jorg Piprek told Der Tagesspiegel
the new ruling was absurd: “We’ve already planted the corn. They can’t
tell us after the fact that it was illegal.”

The cultivation of genetically modified crops has been controversial all
over Europe, with anti-GM activists going as far as ripping up crops.
The German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer has up until now
justified the cultivation of GM crops in Germany by arguing they are
allowed under European Union regulations.