Bijdrage mili­eu­com­missie over een bezwaar op grond van artikel 112: verlenging van vergun­ningen en het verlenen van nieuwe vergun­ningen voor producten die geheel of gedeel­telijk bestaan uit, of gepro­du­ceerd zijn met, genetisch gemo­di­fi­ceerde soja, katoen

Anja Hazekamp (PvdD): Sadly, once again the Commission is renewing existing authorisations and granting new authorisations for gm maize, soy and cotton which are unsafe, have no democratic legitimacy, and increase the use of hazardous pesticides.

These gmo’s belong to the sort of archaic, destructive agriculture that we need to get rid of if we want to have a chance to preserving a liveable planet. Authorising massive imports of maize, soy and cotton that have been made resistant to glyphosate and glufosinate which are toxic for human and environmental health, and that also produce bt-toxins that threaten moths and butterflies is a giant step back. It is the logic of the previous century, when we thought that chemical pesticides and fertilisers were the solution. And now we know that they are causing a lot of problems.

I know that the European Commission will say to us that they are obliged to authorise these imports - even though there never is a qualified majority of Member States in favour of authorisation - but that simply is not true.

Of course, the Commission is legally bound to take a decision after the vote in the appeals committee, BUT Article 6, para 3 of the comitology regulation allows the Commission to NOT authorise the GMO in question if there is no qualified majority of Member States in favour.

The European Commission is also NOT obliged to follow EFSA’s assessment - especially since these assessments are not complete and do not take the hazardous residues on the imported products into account.

Will the Commission finally commit to not authorising any more GMOs when there is not a qualified majority of Member States in favour? Surely, this is the least you can do to respect the democratic decision making.

Thank you.