EU could be 'farming museum' unless GM stance changes

摘要

Europe is at risk of becoming "the museum of world farming" unless the EU changes its stubborn resistance to agricultural biotechnology, in the view of UK agriculture secretary Owen Paterson.Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) last week, the minister painted a picture of serious decline in the European agri-science sector if companies continued to put their investment into non-European markets. "Well-regulated GM [genetically modified] technology offers exciting possibilities," Pat-erson told delegates.He drew attention to an EU vote in the coming weeks, whereby EU ministers will be invited to approve a GM maize product -which would be the first new GM food crop to be approved for cultivation in Europe for 15 years.