Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt hopes to create a legislative framework that would cover cultivation bans on genetically modified plants, but leave them up to the regions. Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, meanwhile, is insisting on a national GMO ban. EurActiv Germany reports.

Barbara Hendricks has rejected a draft bill from Christian Schmidt for regional cultivation bans on genetically modified plants.

The bill is just an initial working draft, Hendricks said on Monday (16 March), in a statement to ZDF.

“It will still be voted on by the federal government,” she said.

The Social Democrat is calling for a national ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops. This is important, she said, to achieve legal certainty. “If we have a fragmented cultivation ban, we would have an incredibly high amount of legal disputes,” Hendricks pointed out.