France’s General Association of Maize Growers (AGPM) has pointed out that farmers growing GM maize (5 200 hectares in France in 2006) are doing so quite legally, planting a variety of Bt maize referenced as Mon810 which has been approved for planting in France since 1998 and has met all requirements at every stage in a very strict assessment procedure.

  In response to the recent statement by CRIIGEN on Mon863 maize, AGPM wishes to point out that CRIIGEN (“ Committee for Independent Research on Genetic Engineering”), which receives funding from, inter alia, Greenpeace, has in fact issued its own interpretation of data published two years ago, i.e. data examined in the assessment file on Mon863 by the official authorities concerned.
 
For the European Union, the procedure for authorising a GMO requires advice and opinions from EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority, and from national authorities responsible for such assessments in all the Member States.
 
In France, the two authorities required to decide on these matters are the Biomolecular Engineering Committee (CGB), comprised of independent scientific experts and representatives of civil society, and AFSSA, the French Food Health & Safety Agency which calls on recognised scientists who are experts in their field.
 
On the basis of the same data now being cited by CRIIGEN, all these authorities had concluded in favour of Mon863.
 
Any farmers wishing to sow GM maize in 2007 can do so, legally, using Mon810 Bt maize which is approved for farming in France.

Contacts :         Béatrice GUENEBEAUD –  Portable : 06 84 51 00 96 – 
                         E-mail : beatrice.guenebeaud@agpm.com
 
                         Cédric POEYDOMENGE – Portable : 06 87 68 73 00
                         E-mail : cedric.poeydomenge@agpm.com