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Showing posts from April 14, 2011

European Parliament Votes To Extend Ban on GMOs

By Theodora Filis European Member states could be given the right to ban genetically modified crops on environmental grounds under proposals put forward this week by the European Parliament's Environment Committee. Members voted to add “environmental impacts” to a list of grounds on which European Union (EU) countries could either ban or restrict genetically modified organisms (GMOs) usage. At present, EU member states are only able to restrict genetically modified GMO crop cultivation under strict conditions, as authorization licenses are valid across the 27-country bloc, in accordance with the principles of the EU's single market. France's Corinne Lepage, draftswomen for the rules,  said it sent a clear signal to the commission. "The EU authorization system should be maintained but it should be acknowledged that some agricultural and environmental impacts, as well as socio-economic impacts linked to contamination, can be cited by member states to justify a ban o