International

Earlier this week the European Commission, in response to a question from the SP's team in the European Parliament, said that it was not minded to introduce a ban on imports of genetically modified maize from the United States. Yet today, to the delight of Euro-MP Kartika Liotard and national MP Krista van Velzen, who has persistently questioned agriculture minister Cees Veerman on the subject, that is precisely what the Commission has done.

“This is a small victory”, said Ms Van Velzen. “I'd rather see all genetically modified (GM) products disappear from the European market, because, for one thing, it's almost impossible to keep tabs on them. And as long as that's the case, consumers can't with any confidence choose whether or not they want to buy them. Mr Veerman also recognises that effective control is virtually impossible. That's why we can only maintain our call for a moratorium on EU market approvals of new GM crops and products of such crops, if only because it's obvious that existing control mechanisms aren't sufficient.”