European Union: parliament, council reach agreement to regulate GMO environmental release

摘要

Brussels--After more than six years of political wrangling, the European Union reached agreement December 12 to revise legislation regulating the release of genetically modified organisms in the environment. The accord came after the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers worked out differences on Directive 90/220 on Deliberate Release of Genetically Modified Organisms. The GMO legislation was agreed upon after protracted negotiations in a Conciliation Committee where differences betweenversions of the legislation in the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament were resolved. Despite the breakthrough in negotiations between the two EU institutions, there is little hope that the de facto moratorium on the approval of GMOs in theEU will be lifted anytime soon, officials said. That is because the new legislation contains no new labeling, traceability, or liability provisions, which EU member states and European Parliament members in favor of the moratorium say are essential before GMO authorization can resume. The European Commission is expected to propose initiatives on all three issues in the coming months, but it will likely take at least two years before any of them are approved.