French ban of Monsanto GM maize rejected by EU

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

France's attempt to ban the planting of a Monsanto strain of genetically modified maize was rejected by the EU's food safety body on Monday.

In response to scientific evidence submitted by France backing its bid to ban the GM maize, the European Food Safety Authority ruled that "there is no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment" to support a ban.

In 2008, France banned the the strain MON 810 following public protests against the GM maize, but this was overturned by a French court in 2011. However, in March the French government reinstated the ban, with the then agricultural minister Bruno Le Maire saying the move was "to protect the environment".

The Monsanto-owned strain, marketed as YieldGard by the US company, is an insect-resistant strain of maize that was introduced in 1997.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/22/french-ban-gm-maize-rejected

[think]

1. Not sure I comprehend this. Doe this mean France's national sovereignty

in regards to this issue is nullified because of their membership in the EU?

A spokesman for Europe's health commissioner, John Dalli, told the AFP news agency that the EU executive "will consider how to follow up on this ruling, though technically we could ask France to raise its ban [on the Monsanto strain]".

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. This is part of the problem that many people in Europe have with the EU generally

yes, EU directives trump national sovereignty in many areas (unless there are specific exemptions or opt-outs negotiated on a specific issue, Britain continuing to use Imperial measures of pints and miles, feet and inches comes to mind).

[4th law of robotics]

4. If the EU is to have any purpose it will need to occasionally trump national sovereignty

otherwise it's just a series of pointless meetings rather than a real political union.

[yellowcanine]

6. If you are a party to a trade compact you lose some control over what you can ban and what

you cannot ban. That is the price you pay for the benefits of belonging to a trade compact. By definition any trade agreement or any treaty for that matter means you are giving up some national sovereignty.The EU has decided the science does not support a ban. So France either has to comply or pay some kind of trade penalty - or pull out of the EU.

[truedelphi]

8. Yes, legally that is exactly what has happened.

We in the USA are in the exact same situation with various toxic substances and how NAFTA operates.

For instance, after Calif. Governor Davis' Blue Ribbon Panel proved that MTBE was a toxin carrying an overall risk many times greater than any benefit, and the state sought to remove MTBE as a product in gasoline, the state ended up paying hundreds of millions of dollars to a Canadian MTBE distributor. NAFTA forces penalties on individual countries and states that do not want to use products used in the other nations or states.

All these "Trade Agreement" contracts hurt the individual sovereignty of the nations involved. Although the multi national corporations do quite well, making out the way that legalized bandits always manage to do!

[lovuian]

3. It is why the EU will crumble

It is things like this where the EU does not allow the people of their country to decide their fates

[truedelphi]

9. Exactly!!

For instance, Iceland, not a part of EU, does better financially than the nations that are, due to Iceland refusing to follow the dictates of the IMF per the EU cronies in cahoots with IMF. This example inspires people to get off their butts and revolt against the ALL WAR ALL AUSTERITY propaganda of the EU cronies.

[qb]

5. "insect-resistant" = pesticide genetically engineered into the kernels.

You can't wash it off.

[yellowcanine]

7. It is the Bt toxin. Same thing that is approved for use on certified organic vegetables.

And it is not going to wash off the vegetables either. There is actually less of it on GM corn than on certified organic vegetables which have been sprayed with Bt. It is only toxic to certain insects, not to mammals or other animals.

[truedelphi]

10. Maybe I need to explain this to you -

people buying organic produce are not eating Bt as it is sprayed on the veggies. When people buy organic veggies that have the Bt as part of their growth - the Bt is sprayed at a particular time in the growing season. In many places in the nation, the Bt is no longer there at all due to rain. In places like California, the Bt is not there as we wash it off the produce before eating it.

When it is used inside the plant, due to the genetic modification of the plant, we have to eat it. Period. In other words,. your explanation is FALSE!

Also and this information is just coming out in the mainstream (lamestream) media, over the past 18 months, the work of indie researchers like Don Huber are demonstrating that the fusarium and other nasty fungi and bacterial growths on the plants are increasing exponentially on the GM crops.

If a farmer brings his crop to market and it is analyzed and found to contain more than a certain percent fusarium, the farmer is going to take a much smaller price for that crop. And this is happening more and more often.

Many of us no longer can even eat the major grain crops of our bread basket states. For instance, I cannot eat wheat - my body simply no longer tolerates it. The aldehydes necessary to keep the product RoundUp as an aerosol spray (without aldehydes in the mix, RoundUp would remain, due to its high glyphosate content, as a cake, not as a spray) are so overwhelmingly present in the content of the resulting "foods" that other nations do not want our wheat, our corn, or our rice.

France has the reputation of having the most fiercely independent researchers examining the full effects of the GM foods, and of the lost nutrients, the contamination due to the mold fungi and bacteria, - especially those researchers At University of Caen France. You would do well to google "University of Caen" + "Gm foods" plus "impact on organs."

The RoundUp ready crap you' re eating today are slamming you liver, spleen kidneys and other organs in most unhealthy ways!

It is hard for Monsanto to slam Don Huber with being inaccurate, as they relied on this man's science for so many years.

[JDPriestly]

11. International trade = surrender of national sovereignty.

I would go so far as to say that "global marketplace" and "global trade" and "free trade" are just trick-words for destroying democracy and installing a global government that replaces not only local governments but, for example, in the US, our Constitution.

What will happen when our First Amendment rights to speak our minds on political issues clashes with some international court's decision that someone has said something they shouldn't have said about some international issue. It could happen at that juncture between politics and big business, a juncture that seems to be taking over the entire street plan of our communities and our lives.

There is far too little discussion about this.

Our Constitution states that international treaties are equal to our Constitution in terms of authority in the law.

So, aside from disagreements about Monsanto products, this situation highlights the dangers that our utter subservience to free trade, international trade, etc. conceal.

We are in the process of giving up our sovereignty, our national identity and everything we hold dear.

US Constitution

Article VI - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths

. . . .

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Article6

Ignorance is dangerous. The wool has been pulled over our national eyes. I wonder how many people understand what this means?

[Tom1960]

12. and suddenly it dawned on me

That the citizens no longer control their own countries....

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Why should Europe...

be any different than us? Seriously, welcome to DU.