Bulgaria Stands Up To EU Over Full Ban On GM Crops
Bulgaria stands categorically against the cultivation of GMO Maize in Europe.
After lengthy debates in the European institutions regarding the
cultivation of genetically modified maize (GM Maize) in EU Member
States, the case was sent to the EU Court of Justice, which ruled that
the prohibition on the use and marketing of genetically modified
organisms, such as MON 810 GM Maize, was not supported by EU laws.
In late 2013 the EC invited Bulgaria to lift the ban on the
cultivation of GM Maize as the prohibition was allegedly based on an
incorrect legal ruling. In early 2014, the EC informed Bulgaria of the
launch of infringement proceedings under Art. 258 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the EU. To this regard, the Bulgarian Ministry of
Agriculture prepared a draft for the Council of Ministers Decision
amending the Decision of Council of Ministers on February 3, 2011 to ban
the cultivation of genetically modified maize MON 810 on the territory
of Bulgaria.
Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Prof. Dimitar Grekov said that the ban on GMOs in Bulgaria will not be canceled!
Bulgaria has no need for GMO crops, he added. According to him, local
agricultural models are well adapted to the climate and soil conditions
and have a high ecological plasticity, a broad genetic base and also
have a very good set of cultivation and uses.
“Local varieties are a valuable source of genetic variability. In the
cultivation of genetically modified and conventional maize (hybrid or
local variety) at distances from each other less than those provided for
in the current Bulgarian law on GMOs, there is a theoretical risk for
the population of conventional corn to be genetically ‘contaminated’
with transgenes,” Minister Grekov categorically stated.
Despite the ban on the cultivation of GMOs in Bulgaria, during the
past few years there have been large areas of farmland contaminated with
GM Maize imported from Romania.
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