The Spanish authorities have discovered unauthorised seeds of genetically modified cotton. Spain asked the European Commission whether it could process the seeds to turn them into products for feed and food uses. A pragmatic view which would benefit companies...

The presence of unauthorised GMOs in the European Union is not unusual. In the summer of 2017, unauthorised seeds of two genetically modified cottons (MON1445 and MON531) have been detected in Spain on a shipment from Argentina.

Cottons seeds unauthorised for import

Feed and food « produced from » [1] these two transgenic cottons are authorised on the European market : more specifically, the authorisations concern food and feed additives, feed materials and cottonseed oil. But unlike other genetically modified cottons authorised in the European Union [2], the authorisations do not cover products containing or consisting of these genetically modified cottons [3]. The scope of both applications did indeed only cover the products produced from the genetically modified cottons. Thus, it is clear that the two transgenic cottons detected in Spain are not authorised in the form of seeds in the European Union.

Moreover, in its opinion on the applications of both the particular cottons, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) [4] [5] indicates that there were no requirements for scientific information on environmental safety assessment of accidental release or cultivation of the cottons since the scope of the applications « only includes products produced from cotton » MON 531 and MON1445 which contain no viable plant parts [6].

Spanish initiatives join growing list of bans and restrictions across the world

A number of towns and regions in Spain have agreed to ban glyphosate herbicides in public areas, according to Kistiñe Garcia of the Spanish NGO, Ecologistas en Acción.

The Spanish towns and regions join a long list of local and national authorities around the world that have restricted or banned glyphosate.

Kistiñe Garcia cautions that while the Spanish towns and regions have taken the decision to ban glyphosate, it will take them some time to substitute alternatives and phase it out completely.

Potential for genetically engineered maize to crossbreed with its wild ancestor teosinte

Thursday, 25 February 2016

Today thirteen civil society organisations active in agriculture and environmental issues have officially alerted the European Commission that the wild ancestor of cultivated maize, teosinte, has appeared in Spain and is spreading widely in maize growing areas as an invasive species. Teosinte and maize have the potential to interbreed and form hybrids. This applies equally to genetically engineered maize MON810, produced by Monsanto and grown on more than 100,000 hectares in Spain. Due to the risks of appearance of an invasive, transgenic teosinte species, the organisations have asked the Commission and the Spanish government to ban the cultivation of MON810 in 2016.

nternational Magazine Nature warns against insects with gene drive

After protests by a broad coalition of NGOs against plans to release genetically engineered olive flies in Spain, the UK company Oxitec now has withdrawn its application. As reported by Spanish media, Oxitec was informed by regional authorities that the experiments will not be allowed. After 2013, this is the second time that the company has failed to get approval for its application in Spain. Once released, the genetically engineered flies might spread throughout the Mediterranean region and all the locations where native populations of olive flies occur. A broad coalition of mostly representative organisations from Mediterranean countries are demanding that any release of these flies should be banned completely.

Watch a 26 minutes report about the problems related to GMOs in Spain.

Spain agriculture suffers from GMOs

In 2012, major portions of land in Spain were planted with MON810 corn, which is produced by the biotech transnational Monsanto based in the United States.

Jose Miguel Sanz, chairman of the Aragonese Committee for Ecological Agriculture, is urging increased information and transparency for Spanish consumers regarding genetically modified (GM) corn, in the face of debates in Europe on the subject.

Genetically-modified olive flies will be released in a Catalan olive grove if a field trial proposed by British biotech company Oxitec is approved in Spain. According to German expert group Testbiotech, which opposes the trial, it would be the first release of GM animals in the European Union.

Acceptance of genetically modified food in Spain reached such an extent that growers in Catalonia planted a higher proportion of their corn crop with biotech seed than peers in the US. Spanish growers raised sowings of genetically modified corn by 19.5% this year to a record 116,000 hectares, analysis of Spanish farm ministry data shows. The sowings, with Monsanto's MON 810 variety, the only biotech seed commercially grown in the European Union, accounted for some 30% of the Spanish corn crop. And it was particularly popular in Catalonia, where it accounted for 90% of seedings – a higher rate than the 88% of US corn planted with genetically modified varieties, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Friends of the Earth Spain celebrates the suspension of GM trials with human genes after mass mobilisations by the general public. Valencia’s local government has revoked the permit of an Italian pharmaceutical company to experiment with GM rice combined with human genes in Vinaros, Castellon. [...] The aim of the GM trial was to obtain enzymes to treat Gaucher’s disease. However, there are several treatments for this disease that are obtained through genetic engineering in confined environments.