EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/818

(2004/C 84 E/0913)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0608/04

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject: The Commission's political intentions re GMOs

On 18 December 2003, report A5-0465/2003 relating to the coexistence between genetically modified crops and conventional and organic crops was adopted by a great majority of MEPs in the European Parliament.

Bearing this in mind can the Commission tell the European Parliament of its political intentions with regard to the following issues:

— Will the Commission stipulate the labelling of GMOs in seed at the technically measurable and reliable detection threshold on the basis of Article 21(2) of Directive 2001/18/EC (1), and take into account the scientific assessments regarding practical applicability (paragraph 2)?

— Will the Commission establish uniform and binding rules without delay at the Community level on the coexistence of genetically modified crops and non-genetically modified conventional crops, and call for the European Parliament to be included in this process under the codecision procedure (paragraph 3)?

— Will the Commission submit a proposal on Community-wide civil liability provisions for sufficient insurance coverage on the part of the applicant, as a component of the authorisation procedure for placing GMOs on the market (paragraph 8)?

— Finally, will the Commission make a formal commitment not to proceed with the approval of the release of any further genetically modified varieties of plant until such time as binding rules on coexistence, backed up by a system of liability based firmly on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, have been agreed and implemented?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(31 March 2004)

In terms of thresholds, Article 21(2) of Directive 2001/18/EC (2) provides for the possibility to derogate from labelling requirements where adventitious or technically unavoidable traces of GMOs cannot be excluded in other products. The Commission is currently preparing a decision concerning labelling thresholds for GM seeds, under this Article, below which the adventitious presence of GM seeds in conventional seed lots does not have to be labelled. Such thresholds will take account of the 0,9 % threshold in place for food and feed products arising from the harvested products of the seed lots in question and should also be workable and enforceable. Identical thresholds will then be adopted under the seed legislation under the Management Committee Procedure.

In the context of co-existence measures, the Commission believes its role should be limited to guidance and it is not its intention to establish uniform and binding rules for co-existence at the Community level. This is because the proportionality, effectiveness and cost-efficiency of measures for co-existence tend to be dependent upon national and regional (or even local) environmental, topographical and climatic conditions as well as farming practices, which vary greatly both between and within Member States. The Commission considers, therefore, that the ‘subsidiarity approach’ is the most appropriate for the development and implementation of co-existence measures and the new Article 26a of Directive 2001/18/EC provides a legal basis for such measures. It should be noted that any draft proposed measure that has the potential to create a technical barrier to trade, or conflict with a full harmonisation method, must be notified to the Commission in accordance with Directive 98/34/EC (3).

Liability rules will be conditioned by the overall approach to co-existence taken by Member States and should therefore be addressed as an integral part of the package of co-existence measures. The Commission has, therefore, also decided to apply the subsidiarity principle to liability rules for co-existence. The Commission policy has always been that civil liability would be better dealt with at a national level and has asked Member States to assess whether their existing civil liability law would be appropriate to deal with co-existence issues. It will re-examine this issue in 2005, as part of a report on co-existence, which will include the measures taken by the different Member States.

The Commission, as guardian of the EC Treaty, has an obligation to ensure that Community legislation is fully implemented across the Community. Directive 2001/18/EC and the recently adopted Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 (4) establish rules for the authorisation of GMOs and the Commission intends to ensure that this legislation is fully enforced.

(1) OJ L 106, 17.4.2001, p. 1.

(2) Directive 2001/18/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC — Commission Declaration, OJ L 106, 17.4.2001.

(3) Directive 98/34/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.

(4) Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed, OJ L 268, 18.10.2003.