ENVIRONMENT Minister Nicos Kouyialis yesterday rejected opposition parties’ criticism that the agreement reached by EU ministers on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) opens the door to GM cultivation in Cyprus, and put it down to “misinformation”. On Thursday, the EU Council of Environment Ministers reached a compromise deal on GMOs, giving member states the right to decide whether to allow the cultivation of GMOs in their national territory. Kouyialis, who represented Cyprus at the meeting, welcomed the agreement on the restriction and prohibition of GMO cultivation, noting that after years of intense negotiations “we agreed on the current text, because we want Cyprus to be free of genetically modified organisms”. He clarified that keeping Cyprus a GM-free zone “is a long standing position of this government”.

Cyprus environment commissioner Ioanna Panayiotou has launched a campaign for the country to ban genetically modified organisms. The reasons why Cyprus should be a GMO-free zone have been set out in a joint declaration compiled by Panayiotou and 18 organisations working towards the same goal, Cyprus Mail reported.

PARLIAMENT yesterday refused to acknowledge a veto by President Tassos Papadopoulos on the stacking of products with Genetically Modified (GM) content on separate supermarket shelves, the Green Party said. A bill providing for separate display was passed by Parliament on June 14 but was vetoed by the President, who said it would have to be amended. The bill had been before Parliament for two years and when it was passed it made Cyprus the first EU country to create such a law.

Cyprus wants to declare the island a GMO-free zone because it is not big enough to ensure conventional crops will remain unaffected by biotech ones, its agriculture minister said on Monday.