Controversial GM crops law passed by Bundestag, Germany

The Agriculture Minister may be celebrating but the German biotech sector is dismayed by new laws on the control of genetic modified (GM) crops. As previously reported on ScanBalt news (click here to view), there was growing concern within the German Biotech sector that the law – by creating a highly restrictive environment on the planting and control of GM crops – would stifle the countries highly developed agro-biotech industry.

One of the major parts of the new law, passed on November 26th, are clauses which hold GM crop planters liable for any contamination of non GM fields. Unlike EU legislation on GM crop growth there is no precise definition of contamination which leads many researchers, in both the commercial and academic sectors, to believe that the potential financial risk of conducting trials will be extremely high.

Although the EU legislation is seen as acceptable by the agrobiotech sector, the new German laws by far surpasses it. It remains to be seen what the consequences of this law are, but the danger for the German biotech sector is that companies, and investment, will be forced to move elsewhere.