Legislation on food was at the top of the agenda in European Parliament committee meetings this week with important votes on genetic modification as well as draft measures to improve food quality.
Atthe environment committee meeting on Tuesday (12 April), MEPs voted on proposals to allow member states to restrict cultivation of GM crops.
The committee voted that member states should be able to invoke environmental grounds, such as pesticide resistance, for restricting or banning the cultivation of EU-approved GMOs.
There were 34 votes in favour with only 10 against and 16 abstentions. French MEP Corinne Lepage said: 'This vote is a clear signal from the parliament to the council and commission: the EU authorisation system should be maintainedbut it should be acknowledged that some agricultural and environmental impacts, as well as socio-economic impacts linked to contamination, can be cited by member states to justify a ban or restriction on GMO cultivation.'
And on Monday, protected denominations of origin (PDO), protected geographical indicators (PGI) and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) status were all discussed in a European agriculture committee debate in Brussels led by Iratxe García Pérez, MEP for the Socialists & Democrats group.
MEPs largely agreed with the proposals to extend TSG status to include non-processed foods – a move which could help the application by UK watercress growers that is currently with the European Commission.
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