Wales has become the latest EU nation state to ban the cultivation of GM crops bringing the total number of countries and regions that have opted out to 17.
Along with the British regional administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and now Wales, other EU countries that have banned GM cultivation include: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland.
Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia have also applied for permission to opt out.
Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Romania, Ireland and the Czech Republic are among those which have not opted out.
Wales’ deputy minister for farming and food, Rebecca Evans, said: “These new rules proposed by the European Commission provide Wales with the necessary tools to maintain our cautionary approach by allowing us to control the future cultivation of GM crops in Wales.
“I have therefore acted now to ban the eight GM varieties from being grown in Wales that are either approved or about to be approved for cultivation in the EU.
Evans said these crops are of “no real benefit to Welsh farmers at this time” but said she will keep an open mind on future GM developments and more advanced genetic techniques.
The bans currently apply to Monsanto’s GM maize – known as MON810 – as the only GM crop approved for cultivation. There are seven other GM maizes awaiting approval from the European Commission.
