Germany to Ban Monsanto GM Corn, Joining France

By Brett Neely

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Germany outlawed the planting of a strain of genetically modified corn made by Monsanto Co., joining a widening European ban on GM crops that threatens to trigger U.S. trade retaliation.

The German ban applies to Monsanto’s MON810, a pest- resistant corn variety, Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner told reporters in Berlin today. Germany joins France, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Luxembourg, all of which have already forbid planting of MON810, she said.

“I have come to the conclusion that there are legitimate grounds to accept that genetically modified corn from the MON810 strain constitutes a danger to the environment,” said Aigner. Andreas Thierfelder, Monsanto’s director of public affairs in Germany, didn’t return calls to his mobile phone.

European Union governments upheld similar Austrian and Hungarian bans last month in a blow to the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, which argued that moves to proscribe the corn were unjustified because scientists have determined the products are safe for consumers and the environment.

The commission declined to say whether it will try to overturn the German ban. The commission will analyze the German move and “decide on the most appropriate follow-up,” spokeswoman Nathalie Charbonneau told reporters in Brussels today.

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Germany Bans Cultivation of GM Corn

04/14/2009
Der Spiegel

Germany has banned the cultivation of GM corn, claiming that MON 810 is dangerous for the environment. But that argument might not stand up in court and Berlin could face fines totalling millions of euros if American multinational Monsanto decides to challenge the prohibition on its seed.

The sowing season may be just around the corner, but this year German farmers will not be planting gentically modified crops: German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner announced Tuesday she was banning the cultivation of GM corn in Germany.

Under the new regulations, the cultivation of MON 810, a GM corn produced by the American biotech giant Monsanto, will be prohibited in Germany, as will the sale of its seed. Aigner told reporters Tuesday she had legitimate reasons to believe that MON 810 posed "a danger to the environment," a position which she said the Environment Ministry also supported. In taking the step, Aigner is taking advantage of a clause in EU law which allows individual countries to impose such bans.

"Contrary to assertions stating otherwise, my decision is not politically motivated," Aigner said, referring to reports that she had come under pressure to impose a ban from within her party, the conservative Bavaria-based Christian Social Union. She stressed that the ban should be understood as an "individual case" and not as a statement of principle regarding future policy relating to genetic engineering.

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