In Europe today 3 genetically
modified crops are permitted (June 2002). These are:
- Soya beans - resistant to crop spray
- Sweet corn - resistant to crop spray and produce insecticide
- Rape plants - resistant to crop spray and does not produce
pollen (therefore it cannot pollinate other plants)
All 3 plants have been approved for import and food produce
manufacture. Sweet corn and rape plants are also approved
for cultivation.
Genetically modified chicory lettuce is also approved for
cultivation. But the lettuce is solely used in processing
work and not as food produce.
No new genetically modified plants have been approved
in Europe since 1998. This is the result of the ruling
passed by the European Union to stop approvals, allowing
more time to consider the risks surrounding genetically
modified plants and to await new and stricter regulations
regarding labelling and risk evaluation.
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What is grown globally?
In 2001 the area of genetically modified crops grown globally
was 52.6 million hectares. That corresponds to an area the
size of France or Spain. This includes food and non-food crops
such as cotton
4 countries produce 99% of the world's genetically modified
crops. These are:
- USA (68%)
- Argentina (22%)
- Canada (6%)
- China (3%)
The 3 most common genetically modified foods are soybeans,
rape and sweet corn. Of all the soybeans grown in the world
46% are genetically modified. 11% of the rape and 7% of the
corn is genetically modified.
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