On Christmas Eve was the deadline for the Polish government to response to the warning issued by the European Commission on the pasture law banning GMO pastures. Brussels believes that since August 2008, the provisions will violate EU law. The new government has not taken any stance yet.
“The Ministry of Agriculture has asked the European Commission to prolong the deadline to response to the warning”, Iwona Chromiak from the ministry’s press office said.
EU may file a suit to the European Court of Justice and Poland may be severely fined. The proceedings may take up two years.
The Polish-EU clash was started by the previous government but the new minister of environment has already said he is going to continue it. The minister of agriculture said he is against GMO crops in Poland but he does not support the ban to use modified pastures. Despite the ban to sell GMO seeds, about 300ha of GMO crops of modified maize appeared in Poland last year, the Polish Association of Maize Producers said.
“EU allows for GMO crops which are, among others, more pest-resistant. The Polish law does not forbid to grow GMO. There is a ban to trade GMO seeds and other limitations, however”, Robert Gabarkiewicz representing Monasanto Polska, a unit of US GMO seed producer said.
He assured that Monsanto Polska is not selling modified seeds to Polish
farmers although it would like to. GMO crops in the world have been growing over
10 percent annually for the last 11 years. In 2006, the join surface of these
crops exceeded 100m ha.