GMO Africa

France must tread carefully on GM crops

France on Friday slapped a ban on the cultivation of a maize variety genetically modified to resist European corn borer. President Nicholas Sarkozy, when challenged to justify the decision, said his government had invoked the “safeguard precaution” clause contained in the European law on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The maize in contention is MON 810 developed by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto, which currently is being grown in countries such as Spain and Germany.

I like the hubris this invocation of “safeguard precaution” has raised. Sarkozy admittedly termed his decision “political,” which has irked many farmers, scientists and even the President of France’s National Assembly, Bernard Accoyer, who insisted, in article in the journa Du Dimanche, that the “… decisions to ban GMOs should be based on “irrefutable” evidence.”

France’s largest farm union, Federation National Des Syndicats D’Exploitants Agricoles (FNSEA), accused the government of politicizing the GMOs issue . “Unless there is any new scientific evidence, they (the French government) already know the response because it was given to the Germans,” Said FNSEA’s President, Jean-Michel Lemetayer. Germany has recently lifted an earlier ban on commercial cultivation of MON 810 after it was verified that it poses no threat to human health and the environment.

The U.S.-based Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), in a press statement, termed the French ban on biotech crops unnecessary. “BIO is disappointed that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has chosen to impose a ban on the sale and commercial plantings of MON 810, a biotech corn variety, in France without any scientific basis,” Said Jim Greenwood, BIO’s Chief Executive Officer.

It seems, from these reactions, France has no option but to reverse its decision. On this blog, I have repeatedly argued that there’s no place for politics in the debate about GMOs. Every decision on whether to allow or reject a variety of genetically modified crop must be anchored in science. In the case of MON 810, for instance, much has been said about it. Some have claimed that the toxins that make it unsusceptible to destruction to the European corn borer can potentially cause allergy on human beings. This has already been disapproved by researchers. Researchers Taylor S.L. and Hefle S.L., for instance, in their paper entitled, “Will genetically modified foods be allergenic?” allay fears of allergencity from GM foods.

France must work in the interest of science. It can’t afford to make “roadside” declarations against GM crops. Unlike many countries, especially in the developing world, France is endowed with rich scientific infrastructure that can enable it to make informed decisions about the safety, or lack of it, of genetically modified crops.