WRITTEN QUESTION P-2383/00 by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. GM-contaminated seeds.
Date: 2000-07-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: aid per hectare, financial loss, precautionary principle, producer's liability, regulation of agricultural production, seed, transgenic plant

8.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 136 E/25

Is has come to my attention that application made and granted during the previous Commission have
since been rescinded and funds have not come through.

Can the Commission explain why funding granted to projects from the previous Commission has now
been withdrawn?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(28 September 2000)

The Honourable Member is hereby informed that no projects under Regulation (EC) 1467/94 of 20 June
1994 on the conservation, characterisation, collection and utilisation of genetic resources in agriculture (1),
which were approved by the Commission were rescinded.

In 1998 seven projects were accepted following the procedures and criteria of this Regulation. Two
contracts were signed in early 1999 and the other five at the end of that year.

Funding granted to projects has not been withdrawn, but is paid following the procedure which applies for
this Regulation.

(1) OJ L 159, 28.6.1994.

(2001/C 136 E/028)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2383/00

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(7 July 2000)

Subject: GM-contaminated seeds

In the EU seeds grown by traditional methods have been contaminated by unauthorised GM seeds
(adventis rapeseed in at least five Member States). With seeds, contamination can quite clearly be excluded,
and the option of a threshold level for accidental contamination must therefore be totally rejected.

1. What consequences will the Commission draw from this incident?

2.

How does the Commission assess the different responses to this scandal in different Member States?

Can the Commission give an assurance that this unlawful growing of GM rape is not supported by

3.
EU funds?

4.

Is there any truth in reports that unlawful growing is receiving EU subsidies?

5.
Can the Commission give an assurance that no appropriations from the EU budget have been used
for these unlawful plantings and products, and that if assistance is provided to farmers, the Commission
and the Member States will hold the undertaking concerned liable for compensation?

6.
How is the question of liability and insurance to be solved in the near future, bearing in mind that
any legislation on the basis of the White Paper on environmental liability will take several more years to
implement?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(12 October 2000)

The Commission is aware of recent interceptions of conventional seed varieties which were contaminated
by unauthorised GM seeds. Since 1966, Community seed legislation has been designed to maximise seed
purity, bearing in mind the many sources of contamination to which production and processing

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8.5.2001

operations are exposed from field to storage. Standards indicating impurity tolerances have been laid down
in respect of analytical and varietal purity.

In preparing the White Paper on Food Safety, the Commission identified a need for specific seed
1.
purity provisions to take account of the presence of GM seeds in seed lots of traditional plant varieties. It
therefore decided to introduce corresponding legislation under Action 77 of the programme presented in
the Annex to the White Paper. This legislation is currently being prepared. Moreover, when informed of
the aforesaid interceptions, the Commission launched a coordinated and harmonised interim action plan
for the early detection of such contaminated seed lots. This plan is under discussion with the Member
States. Unauthorised GM seeds are totally prohibited by existing Community law.

The interim action plan should ensure coordination and harmonisation of the measures which

2.
Member States could, or should, take under existing Community legislation to prevent further incidents.

The relevant cultivation regulations preclude Community support for unauthorised varieties of GM
3.
rapeseed. With a view to the production of high-quality rapeseed oil, only certain (cid:145)zero-zero(cid:146) rapeseed
varieties qualify for area payments. These varieties are indicated on a regularly updated Commission list.

4.
The national authorities of several Member States have ordered the destruction of crops obtained
from the (cid:145)Hyola 401(cid:146) seedling, even though this appears on the list of eligible varieties. Batches of this
variety were found to be contaminated with very small quantities of unauthorised GM seeds. Rape
producers were unaware of this fact at seed time.

5.
To benefit from area payments, plantings should, in principle, be cultivated up to flowering. Thus,
premature crop destruction unfairly deprives producers of part of their area payment income, even where
they have met the requirement of the arable crops scheme defined by the 1992 reform and confirmed by
Agenda 2000, namely to have sown before 31 May preceding the harvest in question and submitted an
area payment application by 15 May at the latest. As a result, and with a view to protecting agricultural
income, the Commission authorised the Member States to make normal area payments to producers
obliged to destroy the implicated crops. This derogation from the flowering rule will not entail additional
expenditure for the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.

On the other hand, producers who have suffered a loss of income owing to the inability to market their
crops should seek compensation through the normal, particularly legal, commercial litigation channels.

The question of liability has already been settled as far as damage to health or property is concerned.
6.
Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products (1), as amended
by Directive 1999/34/EC (2), will cover damage caused by any movable product, including GM seeds. This
Directive imposes strict liability on the producer, i.e. the manufacturer of a finished product, the producer
of any raw material or the manufacturer of a component part or importer of a defective product, as well as
joint and several liability where more than one person is liable for the same damage.

As a follow-up to the White Paper on environmental liability (3), the Commission intends to prepare a
framework directive which will deal with specific environmental damage caused by GMOs (contamination
of sites and reduction of biodiversity).

(1) OJ L 210, 7.8.1985.
(2) OJ L 141, 4.6.1999. This Directive, which extends the scope of the original Directive to primary agricultural
products, entered into force on 4 June 1999 and provides for implementation by the Member States with effect
from 4 December 2000.

(3) COM(2000) 66 final, 9.2.2000.