MEPs will vote on the stalled proposal to allow the sale of honey containing genetically modified (GM) pollen without labelling it as such in November.
An impact assessment published earlier this month has come down on the side of the European Commission’s plan to change pollen’s status from ‘ingredient’ to ‘constituent’ of honey, to get around a EU court ruling from 2011.
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The decision of the European Parliament’s environment committee was postponed until the impact assessment came out.
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Both the rapporteur, Julie Girling of the conservative ECR group, and the lead MEP on the agriculture committee, Mariya Gabriel of the centre-right EPP, are backing the commission’s plan. The Liberals are also in favour but the Greens have strong reservations. The S&D shadow rapporteur was not available for comment.
The parliament’s impact assessment concluded that it would be very costly to continue to classify pollen as an ingredient, as honey containing GM pollen would have to be labelled as such following the EU court’s judgement. There would also be a “highly negative” reaction from consumers.
The authors noted that beekeepers fear contamination of honey by GM pollen, but concluded that if the plan was adopted they might not feel the need to relocate to GM-free areas because the consequences of contamination would be slight.
Beekeepers fear the plan could scupper their chances of winning ‘co-existence’ measures for honey production, whereby they could produce non-GM products at a sufficient distance from GM crops to avoid contamination.
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In a draft opinion issued on 12 September, Ms Gabriel backed the impact assessment’s findings on costs, pointing out that continuing to classify pollen as an ingredient would be particularly burdensome for small-scale beekeepers. The burden of GM labelling would also lead to higher retail prices for honey, she said.
Proper implementation of EU rules on the registration of GM fields would solve the co-existence problem, Ms Gabriel said, adding that “the debate on the amendment of the honey directive should not be confused with the debate on coexistence”. The agriculture committee will vote on her opinion on 30 September.
But the Greens say the EU’s GM regulations should be applied to honey in the same way as for other foods and consumers must not be mislead about honey produced by bees foraging on GM crops. German supermarkets already ask for proof that honey is GM-free, according to shadow rapporteur Bart Staes.
Follow Up:
Impact assessment and agriculture rapporteur’s draft opinion (in French). See also parliament report looking at impact of CJEU ruling on existing legislation.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/envi/studiesdownload.html?languageDocument=EN&file=96270
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