French Court Tosses out Moratorium on Monsanto Corn

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

France’s court lifted a government restriction on Monsanto MON810 corn on Thursday. The court said the moratorium had insufficient legal basis. A moratorium on Monsanto’s corn was approved by the EU, but France introduced a ban on the GM strain in 2012.

Brussels authorized MON810 in 1998 for 10 years. Monsanto submitted a request in 2007 to extend its use, but no decision has been made.  A final decision is expected to be announced before farmers sow next year’s crop in April 2014

Under EU regulations a ban can only be warranted by a member state in cases of an emergency or if the situation poses a major risk to human, animal or environmental health. The GM corn strain is grown on a small scale in places such as Spain and Portugal, where governments have been less opposed to genetically modified crops.