100,000 German beekeepers call for GMO cultivation ban
Beekeepers on collision course with GMO cultivation opt-out law
German beekeepers have called for a nationwide ban on cultivating GM plants, reports the German NGO keine-gentechnik.de.
The
call by the German Beekeepers Association (DIB), which represents
almost 100,000 beekeepers, comes after Europe adopted controversial legislation enabling member states to opt-out of the cultivation of GMOs that have been approved at the EU level.
Under the law, a member state can ban a GMO in part or all of its territory. But the law has come under heavy criticism for failing to provide a solid basis for such bans.
The
beekeepers are urging Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt (CSU) to
implement a Germany-wide ban on cultivation. The Minister pleads,
however, for letting each state decide individually.
The
beekeepers counter that a piecemeal approach will not work. Bees fly up
to eight kilometres in search of food, the DIB said, so a juxtaposition
of GM crop cultivation zones and GMO-free zones within Germany would be
"environmentally and agriculturally unacceptable"
