Germany re-examines GM regulations
The cabinet ministers within the German Government have adopted amendments to national regulations on gene technology. The amendments include an increase in the obligatory distance between fields containing genetically modified (GM) crops, and those with non-GM crops. The amendments will be considered by the government and parliament after the summer break. Farmers wishing to grow GM maize must, if the amendments come into force, ensure that there is a distance of at least 300 metres between their fields and those of neighbouring fields containing organic crops. The gap between fields of GM crops and fields containing ordinary crops should be at least 150 metres. Critics have called for this distance to be increased further, with the German Coalition for the Environment and Conservation (BUND) claiming that the regulation would turn Germany's fields into an open air laboratory for GM experiments. Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer defended the regulation, saying that it offers a high level of protection. He added that the law respects the interests of the consumer, and also improves conditions for research. Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan has spoke out in favour of gene technology, saying that it offers solutions to important challenges of the future. 'We want to use and research the potential of gene technology,' said the minister on 8 August. The technology could be used to develop plants that can be used to produce energy, and for the production of renewable primary resources, or plants that prevent drought or salinisation, she said. In the past year genetically modified plants have been grown on 947 hectares of German land. To date, only one GM crop is grown in the country: the MON810 variety of maize.
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