The EU General Court has overturned on procedural grounds a 2010 decision by the European Commission (EC) authorizing sales of the genetically modified potato Amflora, developed by BASF. In response to a challenge by member state Hungary, supported by France, Austria, Poland and Luxembourg, the court ruled that the Commission had not followed proper procedural regulations.
Designed to be used for production of industrial starch producers as well as for animal fodder, the controversial potato has not been planted in the EU since 2011. Based on an expert opinion by the European Food Safety Agency EFSA, the Commission had initially recommended that member states approve the potato for planting. However, due to opposition in some states, it waited until 2009 to give the official green light.
In the meantime, the Commission commissioned another EFSA study, which again recommended approval, despite dissenting opinions by individual experts but failed to present this to two advisory committees when giving its final approval. Thus, the court said, it prevented possible objections.
In part because of a lack of consensus about GM crops in Europe, BASF in 2012 abandoned plans to sell Amflora in the European market and subsequently moved the headquarters of its Plant Science subsidiary to North Carolina's Research Triangle in the U.S.
The EC has the right to appeal the decision. In the meantime, European environmental groups as well as Greenpeace have called for a ban on the DuPont-Pioneer genetically modified maize 1507, which reports say is scheduled to be approved by European authorities imminently. Currently the only GM crop grown commercially in Europe is an insect-resistant maize developed by Monsanto and grown in Spain.
