1.Protest against relaxing GM crop ban - Hungary
2.GM corn deadline next week - Greece
3.Prospects of GM-crops in southern Bavaria - Germany
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1.Greens protest against relaxing GM crop ban
MTI, 28 January 2006
http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?menu=1&theme=2&cat=25&newsid=214415
Budapest, January 28 (MTI) - Hundreds of people protested against allowing production of genetically modified (GM) crops in Hungary in a demonstration in front of Parliament on Saturday, MTI learnt.
Demonstrators called for the government to keep all bans on GM crops in place until comprehensive testing on health hazards are completed, said Peter Kajner, a member of the green party Live Chain (Elolanc). Party activists have collected more than 12,000 signatures in an anti-GM crop petition over the past month, which Krajner presented to House Speaker Katalin Szili, Farm Minister Jozsef Graf and Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Peter Kiss.
Parliament is preparing to amend legislation on GM crop farming, which would lift some of the restrictions, Krajner said. More lenient laws would hurt grain exports, as genetically altered crops are unwelcome on EU markets, he added.
"We want the strictest laws possible against GM crop farming," said Andras Lanyi, a member of the Live Chain presidium.
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2.GM corn deadline next week
Kathimarini, 28 January 2006 http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100012_28/01/2006_65722
Greece has until Tuesday to decide whether it will lift a ban on a genetically modified corn seed developed by US biotech company Monsanto that the European Commission has instructed the country to accept.
In November, Brussels said that Greece's ban on MON810 seed types was not warranted on health or safety grounds following its approval for sale throughout the EU.
A government source said that the Agriculture Ministry will not refer the issue to the European Court but will try to settle it through other legal channels. No further details were given.
The government will be careful in its handling of the issue after gaining political points for taking a stance that appeared to protect consumer's health.
Meanwhile, consumer groups INKA and EKPOIZO joined forces with environmentalists Greenpeace and farmers group GESASE yesterday calling for a continuation of the ban.
The government should take the initiative and maintain its stance against the corn, they said in a joint statement.
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3.Prospects of GM-crops in southern Bavaria
Translated by Mark Hucko
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 27 jAN 2006
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=12129&start=1&control=197&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1
BAVARIA, Germany - Bavaria is the largest German state, located in the South-East corner of Germany, bordering Austria and the Czech Republic. Officials in the southern part this state, in so-called Lower Bavaria, appear to have been more receptive to demands of growers and industry to allow genetically modified crops than has been the norm in the rest of Germany.
The township of the Lower-Bavarian town of Deggendorf has the largest surface area of any German township, which had been reserved for the planting of GM crops.
Since the area reserved for the enhanced crops lays near the border with Upper Austria, which is a self-declared GM-free zone, the farmers on the Austrian side of the border are up in arms. The Austrian farmers are afraid of outcrossing of the GM-crops - or as they put it - of contamination of their conventional fields by genetically enhanced crops.
Two other privately cultivated areas used for the cultivation of genetically engineered corn are in the Lower Bavarian townships of Freising and Erding. The rest of the locations with transgenic corn are state-owned properties, all in the same South-Eastern corner of Germany.
Through the cultivation of GM crops on state-owned lands, Bavaria wants to evaluate what long-term side-effects can be expected as a result of cultivation of the enhanced crops.
President of the state agricultural office, Jakob Opperer, expressed his opinion that, "It makes no sense for Bavaria to stick its head into the sand when worldwide there are already more than 400 million hectares of transgenic crops, and if Bavaria and Germany want to keep up they must make a start."
Opperer assured the traditional farmers that they have nothing to fear from the cultivation of transgenic crops on state-owned property. One of the ways the state wants to protect the neighbouring farmers is over-sized spacing between fields with GM crops and the neighbouring fields.
According to the new German genetic engineering laws, anyone who wants to plant transgenic crops has to register his fields in the local registry which is open and visible to all interested parties even through internet. This enables farmers to know whether or not one of their neighbours is planting transgenic crops.
Modelled after neighbouring Austria, which has banned transgenic crops, Bavarian ODP political party wants to achieve a similar state-wide ban on GM crops through a petition.
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