EU Commission approves biotech sweet corn for food use

Press Release


EU Commission approves biotech sweet corn for food use

Brussels, 19 May 2004:

Today, the EU Commission approved a genetically modified sweet corn (Bt-11) for food use in the European Union, which is the first GM food product to be approved in Europe since 1998. This sweet corn is genetically modified to protect itself from corn borer insect damage (1).

“The Commission’s decision to finally approve this biotech sweet corn is a welcome move and a positive signal for Europe. Today’s decision is a first step by the EU to move ahead with the approval process for new biotech products under the EU’s new regulatory regime for the authorisation of GM products,” says Johan Vanhemelrijck, Secretary General of EuropaBio, the European association for bioindustries. “But, it is only the first step on the road to unblocking the approval process. We will have to wait to see whether further approvals, including those for cultivation, are forthcoming.”

The biotech sweet corn is already approved for food use in Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Uruguay and the United States and was first approved in United States and Canada in 1996.

The EU‘s Scientific Committee on Food has judged this genetically enhanced Bt-11 sweet corn to be as safe as conventional sweet corn. This opinion reflects the views of several other regulatory authorities worldwide, and the experiences in countries in which Bt sweet corn is already approved.

(1) The sweet corn has been developed by Syngenta, a EuropaBio member company
http://www.syngenta.com/en/downloads/Bt_sweet_corn_update_5-04_final.pdf

Updated EuropaBio fact sheet on Bt 11 (May 2004)
http://www.europabio.org/upload/articles/article_323_EN.doc

For more information, contact

Adeline Farrelly Tel: +32 2 735 0313 Direct: +32 2 739 1174 Mobile: +32 475 93 17 24
Email: a.farrelly [at] europabio.org

About EuropaBio
EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, has 33 corporate members operating worldwide and 24 national biotechnology associations representing some 1200 small and medium sized enterprises involved in research and development, testing, manufacturing and distribution of biotechnology products.
http://www.europabio.org