Alliance calls to stop GM crops in Spain

While European decision makers argue over approving new GM crops, a Spanish alliance of farmers and environmentalists led by Food & Water Europe demand radical change in the European Union’s GM cultivation policy. The alliance says the results of a survey of organic farmers in the USA shows widespread GM contamination, proving that GM “coexistence” has failed and that the resulting costs and extra work are carried by non-GM farmers. This is a clear warning for Spain, the only EU country growing GM crops on a large scale and where there are likely to be more GM crops soon if approvals in the pipeline for new GM maize varieties come through.

The survey, published first in the USA by Food & Water Watch and the Organic Farmers’ Agency for Relationship Marketing and recently released in Europe, documents the added burden organic and non-GM farmers face, including the increased costs of trying to prevent contamination, extra labour, longer hours and financial insecurity due to economic losses when contamination occurs. The survey shows that economic costs of preventive measures to avoid GMOs can reach more than €6,119 per year, including buffer zones, delaying planting and testing, among others. One out of three responding farmers has dealt with GMO contamination in their farm. They reported a median cost of €3,240. Of those contaminated farmers, over half have had crops rejected by their buyers. Other consequences include abandoning crops with GM varieties approved or strained relations between neighbours.

“Farmers in Spain are already facing the same insecurity and lack of legal protection as colleagues in the USA, even though there is only one GM crop approved in the EU. Preventive measures and their costs should not be carried by the farmers that chose not to grow GMOs,” said Andoni García, member of the board of the Spanish Coordination of Farmers (COAG). The Spanish organic cattle industry is also seriously affected by GM contamination. Forced to import maize from other countries that do not grow GM crops, farmers need to pay extra costs to guarantee GM-free feed, according to Food and Water Watch. Considering the situation in the USA, the COAG, Ecologistas en Acción, Friends of the Earth Spain and Food & Water Europe demand European authorities, including the Spanish Government, to reverse the current GMO crop policy. More information is available here.