EU Ministers Fail To Agree On GMO Carnation Imports
Date: 21-Feb-07
Country: EUROPE
There was no qualified majority of member states -- the amount needed under the EU's complex weighted voting system -- for or against the proposal, a European Commission spokeswoman said.
The application for EU approval was filed by Florigene, one of Australia's first biotechnology companies and part of the privately owned Suntory group. Florigene wanted its flowers to be imported into EU markets for general distribution and sale.
It did not request permission for the flowers to be grown.
Marketed as Florigene Moonlite, the flowers are modified to produce blue pigment and also carry a herbicide-resistant gene.
Ironically, carnations were the EU's last two GMO plant authorisations before the bloc began its six-year moratorium on new biotech approvals. The carnation types were modified to alter flower colour and "improve vase life".
Since then, even after the EU's unofficial moratorium ended in early 2004 because of a default legal rubberstamp from the executive Commission, the bloc's member states have consistently clashed on new GMO authorisations and failed to reach consensus.
Both GMO carnations were submitted by Florigene and received EU import approval in October 1998.
According to its website, Florigene developed the world's first mauve-coloured carnation in 1996.
