What the French ban of Bt MON810 maize means for science-based risk assessment
2013
Kuntz , Marcel (INRA , Ivry-Sur-Seine (France). UR 1216 Transformations Sociales et Politiques liées aux Vivants) | Davison , John (INRA , Narbonne (France). UR 0050 Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement) | Ricroch , Agnès E(auteur de correspondance) (AgroParisTechCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ParisOrsay(France). Laboratoire d’écologie, systématique et évolution)
In February 2012, the French government, at that time headed by Nicolas Sarkozy, sent a document (‘emergency measures’; Supplementary Note 1) to the European Commission (EC), supposedly providing new information on environmental risks of genetically modified (GM) MON810 maize varieties (MON810 expresses the Cry1Ab insecticidal protein isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and was developed by Monsanto (St. Louis) to control certain Lepidoptera insects). The release of this document was followed by the publication in March 2012 of a national ruling prolonging the existing ban on their cultivation. Despite canceling many other actions of the Sarkozy government, the new French government under François Hollande has elected to continue with the MON810 ban. This correspondence examines the emergency measures document to analyze its scientific validity and consider the widespread implications for science-based risk assessment. Such an analysis is warranted because not only the French Government, but also several other European governments (that is, Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg and, most recently, Italy) invoked ‘scientific’ data to justify their bans.
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