EU commissioner Dacian Ciolos has said the EU “cannot risk consumer confidence in its capacity to produce food in line with their expectations” when considering the approval of GM products.
Ciolos told reporters at the NFU conference that Europe's sticking point on GMO is not the EU Commission but the Council because they have not yet been able to make able to make a majority decision in favour or against it.
"So the problem was not with the Commission," Ciolos said. "But we cannot not take into account the perception of the food. You know the reaction of consumers is very emotional when you talk about food and you know European consumers are very concerned with the quality of food. We cannot risk the confidence of our consumers in our capacity to produce food in line with their expectations."
He added that the commission has submitted proposals to strengthen the budget for research into biotechnologies but stressed it also must take into account the expectations of consumers.
But DEFRA environment secretary Caroline Spelman said confidence comes from having a really strong science base to the decision-making.
"GM, I think, is without a doubt one of the tools that will be integral to delivering sustainable intensification and helping to address food security as long as its used responsibly and we have to keep on investing in the science base. I just wanted to provide some assurances there.
"DEFRA has invested in trails of blight resistant potatoes at Sainsbury’s laboratories and nematode-resistant potatoes at Leeds University and has in trial an aphid-resistant wheat at Rothamstead because it’s going to be part of our global competitveness.”
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