European Market Opened to Transgenic Corn

BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 20, 2003 (ENS) - The European Commission has authorized the placing on the market of sweet corn from Syngenta's genetically modified maize line Bt11. This decision, announced Wednesday, is the first new genetically modified food approved in Europe for over five years.

Any imports of the canned vegetable will have to show clearly on the labeling that the corn has been harvested from a genetically modified plant.

Grain from the GM maize line Bt11 has been authorized for import into Europe since 1998 and is widely used in the EU in feed and in derived food products such as maize oil, maize flour, sugar and syrup, snack foods, baked foods, fried foods, confectionary and soft drinks.

An authorization for cultivation for Bt11 maize is pending and has not yet been granted.

(Photo courtesy Illinois Maize Breeding & Genetics Lab)

David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, said, "GM sweet corn has been subject to the most rigorous pre-marketing assessment in the world. It has been scientifically assessed as being as safe as any conventional maize. Food safety is therefore not an issue, it is a question of consumer choice."

The environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth said the decision to approve the controversial GM sweet corn is likely to strengthen consumer opposition to genetically modified food and crops.

Friends of the Earth Europe’s GM campaigner Adrian Bebb said, “The European Commission is gambling with the health of European consumers. Member states remain divided over the long term safety of this GM sweet corn, yet the Commission wants to force it down our throats. The public won’t swallow this arrogance. Hostility to GM food and crops is likely to grow, and public confidence in EU decision-making will be damaged.”

Bt corn in the field (Photo courtesy URI)

"The new EU rules on GMOs require clear labeling and traceability," said Commissioner Byrne. "Labeling provides consumers with the information they need to make up their own mind. They are therefore free to choose what they want to buy."

Friends of the Earth says there is virtually no market for genetically modified foods in Europe as consumers have overwhelmingly rejected them. Official opinion polls show that 94.6 percent of EU citizens want the right to choose and 70.9 percent simply do not want genetically modified food.

Bt 11 sweet corn has been harvested from a plant genetically modified to produce Bt toxin, which is similar to that produced by bacteria and widely used as a natural insecticide for years. Critics fear genetically modified foods could trigger allergies in sensitive people.

Syngenta explains how the engineered corn works to stop corn loving insects. Specific strains of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produce a protein, referred to as Bt protein, or Cry1Ab. When eaten by the European corn borer or corn earworm, two important sweet corn pests, the Bt protein is broken down by digestive enzymes in the larva’s alkaline intestine, generating a shorter protein that binds to the wall of the intestine. This damages the cell membrane, making it leaky, and stops the larva in its tracks, the company says.

Bt 11 sweet corn is engineered to resist the European corn borer (Photo courtesy USDA)

The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health has not given an opinion.

The Bt 11 sweet corn proposal was considered by the Agriculture Council on April 26, 2004. At that meeting Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the UK voted in favor. Denmark, Greece, France, Luxembourg, Austria and Portugal voted against. Belgium, Germany and Spain abstained.

Since the Council did not act within the required time limit, the decision goes to the Commission. Byrne said, "The Commission is acting responsibly based on stringent and clear legislation.”

Bt 11 sweet corn has been assigned a unique identifier to allow traceability and will be entered in the Community Register of genetically modified food and feed.

Dozens of other genetically modified corn, soy, tobacco, rapeseed, potato and sugar beet products are awaiting approval from the European authorities.

Bt-11 sweet corn is approved for food use in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, China, Uruguay and South Africa. Additionally, Bt-11 sweet corn has been approved for cultivation in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Japan, Uruguay and South Africa. It is currently grown on a small number of acres in the United States, Canada and Argentina.