GM framework set out in law

France will press ahead with test of GM crops despite a moratorium on their use imposed at last year’s Grenelle environment summit.

The law, which is expected to be adopted today, will set out the conditions by which GM crops can be grown in France.

This includes research projects involving GMO s, the commercial cultivation of GM plants and coexistence with conventional and organic crops.
However, an amendment to severely restrict the use of GM plants met with majority approval.

The original draft required only that they be grown with "consideration for the environment and public health", transgenic plants may now be cultivated only with “due consideration for agricultural structures, regional ecosystems and GM-free production lines”.

The opposition described this as a "political victory" over the centre-right majority party, the UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire).

Four delegates from the ruling majority parties approved the amendment, in addition to the Socialists, Communists and Greens.

GM opponents such as Greenpeace and France Nature Environnement nevertheless criticised the bill for legalising an environmentally damaging technology.

They welcomed the amendments pushed through by the opposition, but at the same time described them as purely "cosmetic tinkering" of an act which will benefit "a handful of industrialists".