Articles

This week, Scotland's rural affairs secretary, Richard Lochhead, announced that he is to request that the country be excluded from the scope of EU consents for the cultivation of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In this update, we take a look at the new EU legislation governing that request. As a result of that legislation, EU member states now have additional power to decide to what extent they are prepared to permit GMOs to be grown in their territories. This makes public perception of GMOs and the state of local scientific knowledge more important and may result in an increase in limitations on the growing of genetically modified crops in Europe.