Biotech Corn Banned In Germany

Biotech Corn Banned In Germany

HAMBURG, Germany--Germany's Health Minister, Andrea Fischer, announced a ban on thecultivation of genetically modified (GM) seeds to grow corn. The ban, which followedconsultations with the country's Environment and Agriculture Ministries, will remain ineffect until the European Union reaches a final decision on the fate of GM crops inEurope. The decision was made when the ministries concluded that the risks of GM crops onhuman health were still unknown and could be more dangerous than previously thought.Concerns that eating the corn could possibly decrease the effectiveness of antibiotics inhumans because of the antibiotic Ampicillin found in GM corn helped to shape the decision.As a result, Germany denied the Swiss company Novartis, which has been planting GM corn intest fields in Germany for the past three years, the right to sell the corn to Germanfarmers. Novartis withdrew its application to the German Federal Seeds Agency and askedfor approval of its Bt-176 GM corn.