BASF ready for lawsuit against EU on GMO potato
BASF is having trouble with getting approval for commercialization of its GM potato, according to this Reuters article. After an unsuccessful meeting with EU Commissioner Stravros Dimas, BASF is now threatening legal action if steps to approve the GM potato are not put into motion. .
Dr. C Kameswara Rao
BASF ready for lawsuit against EU on GMO potato
Reuters
April 17, 2008
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German chemical company BASF may take legal action against the European Commission if approval of its genetically modified (GMO) potato is not issued soon, a senior company official said on Thursday.
"We are prepared to take legal action against the Commission," said Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's board of executive directors told reporters at a briefing.
Asked about a possible timeframe, he said: "Not years, we are doing the utmost to meet the next planting season."
After an inconclusive meeting this week with EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, BASF sent him an open letter -- printed across German media, the Financial Times and other newspapers on Thursday -- demanding that the Commission approve its Amflora potato "without any further delay".
If approval is given, it would be the EU's first authorization of a GMO product for cultivation in a decade. Only one GMO crop may be grown commercially in the EU, a maize made by U.S. biotech company Monsanto and approved in 1998.
"We have not been satisfied with the process of approval so we took this unusual step (of the open letter)," Marcinowski said. "The decision has been sitting for nine months on the desk of Commissioner Dimas."
