Poland faces fines on national GM food law
The deadline for Poland to respond to European Commission (EC) claims that its ban on genetically modified (GM) food products violates EU law is swiftly approaching.
The Polish government must respond to the EC by December 23 concerning a
complaint against the domestic law on animal feed, which prevents livestock from
being fed GM crops and is restrictive in the EC’s opinion. The complaint was
issued last summer.
If Polish regulations remain unchanged, the EC has
said it will take the matter before the European Court of Justice.
EU
legislation on GM food aims at ensuring the “free movement of safe and healthy
genetically modified products in the European Union.” Should the court find
against Poland, the resulting fine could amount to €260,000 per day, Gazeta
Wyborcza daily estimated.
“There is no scientific evidence that GM food
is harmful,” Jadwiga Seremak-Bulge, an analyst from the Institute of Agriculture
and Food Economics – National Research Institute, argued. She stressed that GM
products have been long present in Poland despite the ban. “For 10 years we have
been eating chicken fattened on GM feed,” she said.
By maintaining the
ban, Poland could face higher feed prices, and therefore higher food prices,
Seremak-Bulge suggested.
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