April 17, 2000 / Reuters / Paule Bonjean
PARIS -- Jacques My, secretary general of the Union of Plant Protection
Industries (UIPP), a French organisation grouping 30 biotechnology firms
including Novartis, Monsanto, Agrevo and Aventis with combined annual sales
in France of 15 billion francs, was cited as telling Reuters in an interview
that European biotechnology firms won a legal battle last week to keep
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on supermarket shelves, but they still
have to convince consumers of the benefits, adding, "Manufacturers finally
have a directive which gives them a regulatory framework. There is no more
veto. This can only be good, but the second stage will be the acceptance of
GMOs by the consumer. ... We weren't concerned by consumers' expectations.
We wanted to do the same thing in Europe as in the United States. You need
something extra for European consumers."
For example, producers could market melons with a higher sugar content,
transgenic rapeseed which produces an oil less rich in fat or transgenic
rice enriched with vitamin A.
My said companies had also made a mistake by failing to take into account
safety and environmental concerns.
(posted without permission)
