German chems urge Europe to improve access to GM plant tech

12 February 2009 15:22  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Europe’s farmers are losing competitiveness as they do not have the same access to modern genetically modified (GM) plant technologies as their counterparts in other parts of the world, the German chemical producers association VCI said on Thursday.

“We are calling on politicians in Europe to ensure that farmers have access to modern technologies to ensure their competitiveness on global markets,” BASF board member Stefan Marcinowski said.

Marcinowski, who heads VCI’s biotechnology industry group, warned that Europe’s farmers were falling behind.

Worldwide, the area being cultivated with GM technologies and plants rose 9% to 125m hectares last year, VCI said, citing recent statistics by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. This was about equivalent to western Europe’s total agricultural land.

Over 13m farmers in 25 countries used GM seeds last year, VCI added. 

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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