> [In response to Sal's query from a couple days ago:]
>
> Swiss soiled seed prompts tolerance question
> by Ingeborg Furst
> Nature Biotechnology, Volume 17 / July 1999 Page 629
>
> On July 1, the Swiss government's tolerance standard for genetic purity
> of food comes into effect. Switzerland is the first country in Europe to
> set a limit for genetic contamination, but current controversy over
> genetically contaminated corn seeds highlights the urgent EU-wide need
> for such a standard for crops.
>
> In May, it was discovered by the Swiss Department of Agriculture
> (Budesamt fur Landwirtschaft; Bern) and the district president of
> Baden-Wurtlemberg (Tubingen, Germany) that Pioneer Hi-Bred's (Des
> Moines, IA) nongenetically modified corn seed varieties, Ulla and
> Benicia, actually contained novel genes from a variety of corn
> genetically modified to be resistant to the corn borer, Bacillus
> thuringiensis.
>
> Contamination of the seeds, which were harvested in the United States,
> was "probably caused by stray pollen during the growing season," says
> Ulrich Schmidt, managing director of Pioneer in Buxtehude, Germany,
> which represents the grain manufacturer in Switzerland. It is likely
> that incorporation of pollen from GM varieties into Ulla and Benicia
> occurred this way because "Pioneer does not offer a commercial GM
> variety of Ulla or Benicia."
>
> Before the contamination was discovered, Pioneer had sold enough Ulla
> and Benicia seeds to sow 400 hectares (roughly 0.5% of total corn
> cultivation in Switzerland), about 200 hectares of which had already
> been planted.
>
> Estimates of the amount of genetic contamination of non-GM DNA by GM DNA
> vary between 0.1 and 0.5%-- respectively below the limit set in both
> countries for contamination resulting from physical mixing of varieties.
> Under German and Swiss seed market laws, this "technical" contamination
> with seed from weed and other varieties can be as high as 3% and 5%,
> respectively.
>
> But because there are no tolerance standards set for genetic purity, the
> contaminated Pioneer seeds are not approved for release into the
> environment, and planting therefore infringes the Swiss environment
> conservation law (Umweltschutzgesetz), as well as violating the German
> gene technology law (Gentechnikgesetz). As a result, the Swiss
> Department of Agriculture (Bundesamt fur Landwirtschaft, Bern) has
> prohibited the import and trade of contaminated Ulla and Benicia and has
> ordered the destruction of any already sown.
>
> However, Pioneer and the entire grain industry are not able to guarantee
> the genetic purity of their conventional non-GM varieties, says Schmidt.
> "Genetic inserts are in the nature of things," agrees Rainer Linneweber,
> spokesperson for Novartis Seed (Bad Salzuflen, Germany). "Despite our
> high-level quality management and our ISO certification, even a 100%
> [technical] purity for conventional seed is utopian," he adds. But
> although the Swiss government has now set a 1% tolerance standard for
> genetic contamination of food, such a standard for crops remains absent.
>
> In the meantime, both Switzerland and Germany have analyzed the
> contaminated seed: The Swiss Department of Agriculture could detect by
> PCR the presence but not the amount of DNA sequences from GM corn
> varieties. But analysis ordered by the Baden-Wurttemberg district has
> called two specific GM varieties into question &endash; one from Pioneer
> and one from another unnamed grain manufacturer, according to Grit
> Puchan, spokesperson for the Baden-Wurttemberg district.
>
> "We still need to clarify whether or not these GM-corn seed varieties
> have been granted marketing approval in the EU and subsequently in
> Germany," says Puchan. If they have, the release of their contaminants
> would already be approved under the existing EU 90/220 directive. In
> this case, Pioneer must simply label the seeds accordingly to satisfy
> German authorities, says Edgar Muschketat, spokesperson for the
> Berlin-based Robert-Koch-Institut, which approves the release of GMOs
> into the environment.
>
> But this question is irrelevant, according to Hans-Georg Dederer, jurist
> at the Institute for Public Law at the University of Bonn, who says a
> loophole in the law means that genetically contaminated seeds need no
> special approval under 90/220. "A crop genetically modified by stray
> pollen is not a product within the meaning of 90/220, because 'product'
> implies a willful preparation," he says.
>
> Meanwhile, a "witch hunt-like atmosphere" reigns in Switzerland, says
> Klaus Ammann, director of the Botanic Garden at the University of Bern
> and member of the Commission for Biosafety (Kommission fur biologische
> Sicherheit). But although some corn fields have been destroyed by fire
> or herbicides, many farmers (mainly in western Switzerland) refuse to
> destroy the corn until Pioneer and the Swiss government agree to
> compensate them. In addition, the Swiss farmers' association
> (Schweizerischer Bauernverband) is deciding whether to file a class
> action lawsuit against Pioneer (via the Swiss seed importer), and
> Pioneer is considering halting sales via the Swiss seed importer to
> farmers in Switzerland.
>
> As Nature Biotechnology was going to press, the Swiss seed importer Eric
> Schweizer Samen AG agreed to pay farmers 700 Swiss Francs per hectare.
>
>
>
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