Last night, it was a biased presentation that was made of the ruling on MON 810 maize by the preliminary committee of the senior authority on GMOs.  On the substance, and in the context of European Union legal requirements, the ruling has not introduced any new scientific evidence that could justify the application of the “safeguard clause”.

The chairman of the senior authority spoke of “serious doubts”, an expression which is nothing more than a leading and indulgent reference to terms used the day before by the President of the French Republic.
 
This instrumentalisation of the preliminary committee is hardly surprising, as it fits in with the series of contradictory ministerial statements, spin, smart steps and sidesteps seen since the beginning of the week.
 
All of this sounds dramatically fake, and all of this is extremely serious for the fundamental work of innovation and research, for farming and for all the issues agriculture has to deal with.
 
There were public demonstrations of a dubious nature, with cheek-kissing and use of the familiar “tu” form of address between the Secretary of State for Ecology and a person found guilty by courts of law and who has been behind many offences, with the same person being officially received by the same Secretary of State a few days ago and, “to top it all off”, being received by the Minister of Agriculture two hours after the announcement that the draft legislation was being withdrawn.
 
BT maize producers, who have abided by the legal frameworks and have been victims of attacks destroying crops in their fields, feel insulted by the granting of this legitimacy, both de facto and political legitimacy, to the perpetrators of such actions.
 
The public authorities have apparently chosen to give preference to a certain type of spokesperson.  The message has come across loud and clear.  This now means we will have to rethink the strategy for the professional sector and unions of grain producers, not changing any substantive issues, but changing working methods.
  
Contacts : Luc ESPRIT - tél : 01 44 31 10 93 et 06 80 31 65 45
                 Pascal HURBAULT - tél : 01 44 31 16 25 et 06 72 42 06 36