EU authorises new GMO amid safety doubts

The Commission argues it was legally obliged to authorise imports of Monsanto’s GT73 oilseed rape after member state experts and ministers failed to agree whether the crop presented a risk to the environment.

Monsanto’s GT73 oilseed rape was authorised in the EU on 31 August after the Commission gave its green light to the crop that has been genetically modified to resist Glyphosate – a herbicide used in brands marketed by Monsanto and other pesticide manufacturers.

The decision came after more than two and a half years in the administrative wilderness that saw GT73 consecutively submitted for scrutiny by Dutch authorities, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), EU member state experts, and finally EU environment ministers in December last year. 

But even though the Dutch and EFSA agreed on the crop’s safety, neither the EU experts nor the environment ministers were able to decide with a sufficient majority on whether to authorise or reject GT73.

In a statement, the Commission indicated it was therefore “obliged to adopt the decision” under the legal procedure for authorising GMOs in the 25-member bloc. The authorisation is valid for ten years and covers the import and use of GT73 as animal feed, but not cultivation or food use. It is accompanied with a recommendation to Monsanto on how to handle GT73 after an environmental institute detected the accidental presence of another GM oilseed rape resistant to herbicide around five port facilities in Japan.

Green NGO Friends of the Earth called on member states to use the provisions in EU law to impose national bans on GT73.

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