Monsanto will no longer be used in Europe as one of the lines for growing genetically modified crops. Rather, this seed company, which is the largest globally, will work towards the increase in sale of its non-genetically modified seeds. According to Jose Madero, the president of Monsanto and Europe’s managing director, the company will shift its focus on traditional seeds due to the fact that the GMO business did not do well in Europe. Many European nations do not allow growing of GMOs. This means that the process of applying for new GMOs may be intensive, extensive, and never ending.
More than ninety-eight percent of Monsanto’s sales in Europe are accounted for by the non-genetically modified products. Currently, the company has plans of investing approximately 300 million dollars in the expansion of production of traditional seeds in Romania, France, Turkey, and Hungary. An investment of approximately 150 million has also been made in the Ukraine. Monsanto currently has one of the largest production plants in Europe through the Ukraine. Therefore, the Ukraine serves as a key exporter of grain and is known to import Monsanto’s seeds. The announcement was made by the International Journal of Science, Nature, which stated that regardless of a regulatory path that seemed clear, the process of approval of genetically modified crops in Europe had come to a halt.
As mentioned earlier, the process is extensive and time-consuming. First of all, the European Food Safety Authority has to give a go-ahead by confirming the safety of GM crops in Parma, Italy. The second step is for the European Commission to give a draft of the decision made within a period of three months. For the final decision to be made, a vote count has to be taken by the European Union representatives of member states.
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