German chem industry condemns attacks on biotech plant facilities

LONDON (ICIS)--Germany’s chemical industry trade group, Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI), has condemned activists’ destruction of trial fields for genetically modified plants over the weekend.

The activists destroyed fields for genetically modified potatoes near Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, and for genetically modified wheat, in Uplingen, Saxony-Anhalt state.

Stefan Marcinowski, head of VCI’s biotechnology portfolio, said the activists had wiped out many years of research work. They also threatened security personnel at the sites.

Marcinowski, who is also a member of BASF’s executive board, said Germany could not tolerate such actions.

At the same time, Marcinowski called on politicians in Germany and the EU to take an “ideology-free” approach to plant biotechnology.

He went on to add that biomass is becoming an important platform for chemical and biotechnological processes to produce chemicals, energy, animal feed and food products, as well as pharmaceuticals.

Rising demand can no longer be met through conventional technologies alone, he concluded.

“We cannot do without modern plant technology and cultivation,” Marcinowski said. “Without the technology, Germany’s ambition to become a bio-economy will remain a dream.”