Coexistence of Genetically Modified and Non-GM Crops in the European Union: A Review

The objective of the research is to analyse the way the European Union is addressing the issue of the coexistence between traditional, organic, and GM crops.In the European Union no form of agriculture, whether conventional, organic, GM, should be excluded. Farmers are free to choose the production type they prefer, without being forced to change patterns already established in the area, and without spending more resources.Today EU rules on genetically modified crops are very rigid; in particular, before starting a GM crops commercial cultivation, it is compulsory to obtain a specific European Commission authorisation (based on a safety risk assessment carried out by the European Food Safety Authority), and GM food and feed (threshold 0,9%) must be labeled (to inform consumers) and traced.Coexistence is the weak point of the European legislation in the field. The European Commission defines the term coexistence as the farmers’ ability to make a practical choice between conventional, organic and GM-crop production, in compliance with the legal obligations for labeling and/or purity standards. In simple terms, coexistence is a way of allowing farmers to choose between the three agricultural systems. Farmers’ choice to grow GM or non-GM crops depends not only on technical aspects related to the productivity gains and agronomic benefits to be gained from adopting this technology, but also on consumers’ preferences. Particularly in Europe, consumers continue to be concerned about the potentially adverse implications of widespread GM crop production for the environment and food safety. According to Directive 2001/18/EC (Article 26 bis), Member States may organise measures to avoid the unadventitious presence of GMOs in other non-GM products. In order to help the Member States to organise national coexistence measures, the European Commission adopted the Recommendation 2003/556/EC on the guidelines for the development of national strategies and best practices to ensure the coexistence of genetically modified crops with conventional and organic farming. The act establishes that the approaches to coexistence need to be developed in a transparent way, based on technical guidelines and in co-operation with all stakeholders concerned. The guidelines are based on experiences with existing segregation practices and, at the same time, they ensure an equitable balance between the interests of farmers of all production types. Further, they state that management measures to ensure coexistence should be efficient and cost-effective, without going beyond what is necessary to comply with EU threshold levels for GMO labeling. Today it is accepted that total isolation of GM material, certainly once agricultural biotechnology is widespread in the EU, is impossible; coexistence focuses on the practices used to decrease the adventitious GM presence. The implementation of coexistence measures is a complex process owing to the diversity in field, farming and natural conditions extending over Europe.On 13 July 2010, the European Commission adopted a new coexistence package that consists of a coexistence Communication, a new Recommendation on co-existence of GM crops with conventional and/or organic crops, and a draft Regulation proposing a change to the GMO legislation. The new approach aims to achieve the right balance between maintaining an EU authorisation system and the freedom for Member States to decide on GMO cultivation in their territory. The new flexible European scenario will give to the Member States the possibility to decide whether to cultivate biotech crops, maintaining at the same time an EU wide science-based authorization system.

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Coexistence of genetically modified (GM) and non-GM crops in the European Union. A review

Agronomy for Sustainable Development ◽

10.1051/agro:2008051 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 11-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 119

Author(s):

Yann Devos ◽

Matty Demont ◽

Koen Dillen ◽

Dirk Reheul ◽

Matthias Kaiser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Genetically Modified ◽

Gm Crops ◽

The European Union

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Analysis of gm crops allowed for using in the european union

Naukovì dopovìdì Nacìonalʹnogo unìversitetu bìoresursiv ì prirodokoristuvannâ Ukraïni ◽

10.31548/dopovidi2021.05.004 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

T. Tkachenko ◽

◽

V. Tsedyk ◽

V. Kornienko ◽

V. Ischenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Genetically Modified ◽

Genetically Modified Crops ◽

Gm Crops ◽

The European Union ◽

Genetically Modified Soybean ◽

Gm Plants ◽

Tiny Amount ◽

Food And Feed

The development of biotechnology in the field of GMOs requires states to take specific decisions to regulate the spread of genetically modified crops. In the European Union all GM crops that circulation are subject to mandatory registration, which regulates the placing on the market and circulation of genetically modified raw materials, food and feed. The article presents systematized data about the registration of genetically modified soybean, maize and rapeseed in the European Union. It was established that most of the GM crops have introduced genes that give them tolerance to herbicides of different groups. The register of the European Union currently includes 12 events of soybean (GTS 40-3-2, A2704-12, Mon 89788, MON87705, DP 356043, A5547-127, FG 72, SYHTOH 2, DAS-44406-6, DAS-68416- 4, Mon 87708, BPS-CV127-9), 5 events of maize (MZHG0JG, DAS-40278-9, GA 21, NK 603, T 25), 3 events of rapeseed (GT 73, T45, TOPAS 19/2) with tolerance to herbicides. It has been shown that a significant number of registered GM plants have a combination of several events, including tolerance to herbicides and resistance to certain insects or improving quality features of crops. Among them are one event of soybean (DP305423-1), 9 events of maize (TC 1507, DP 4114-3, MON 87411-9, MON 87427, MON 88017, DAS59122-7, Bt 176, Bt 11, DAS 1507) and one event of rapeseed (MS8xRF3). Many GM crops (one event of soybean and 6 events of maize) have introduced genes that determine the plant's tolerance to insects. Only a tiny amount of GM crops are being with altered consumer or technological qualities. In the register of genetically modified crops, all events of GM crops are currently authorized for usage for food, supplements, feed and other product. А single event of maize (Mon 810), that was allowed for cultivation at the time of this analysis was at the stage of renewal of the permit.

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