On the 10th of July 2012, the new Romanian Minister for Agriculture, Daniel Constantin, will be the patron of the annual AgriBusiness conference sponsored by the multinational companies Monsanto and Pioneer and Agrobiotechrom. It gathers large landowners, Romanian authorities, deputies and GMO companies.

Greenpeace welcomes the Romanian Government’s landmark decision to ban genetically engineered (GE) maize, announced today. The move is particularly significant as GE maize is the only commercially cultivated GE crop permitted in Europe. Mr Attila Korodi’s, Minister of Environment and Durable Development, announcement banning Monsanto’s GE maize MON 810, makes Europe’s largest per hectare maize producer GE-free. Romania is the seventh of Europe’s leading maize producers to ban the growing of GE varieties, following France, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Greece and Poland.

Carrefour Romania withdrew from its shelves all Snack Attacks products on Monday, reasoning that its bread contains genetically modified soy bread. The action comes after Greenpeace protesters argued with proof that the white bread does not contain any GMO labelling for consumers. The bread was provided by Snack Attack, a well known fast food chain. State authorities were taken aback by the decision but said that they would meet with both Greenpeace officials and Snack Attack representatives on Tuesday to analyze the situation.

The Agriculture Ministry announced on Thursday that all allegations of Greenpeace officials regarding the growth of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the Braila Great Island (Insula Mare a Brailei). Greenpeace militants announced that the ministry ignores the GMO soy and corn crops and refuses to destroy the cultures. After first responding that destroying the cultures is a responsibility of the Environment Guard, the Agriculture Ministry returned and added that their official tests revealed the absence of any GMO crops on Insula Mare a Brailei. Even more, the officials accused Greenpeace of damaging Romania’s image.

Recently, the Romanian Minister of Agriculture publicly announced his intention to support GM soy cultivation in the EU:

“As the GM soy cultivation technology proved to have obvious advantages for farmers, with positive outcome for Romania" s national economy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will support the approval for cultivation of GM soy at the European Union level, by expressing a favorable position in the decision making process.”

GM soybean cultivation, which had reached 130.000 ha in Romania is presently prohibited and Monsanto"s application for approval pending at the EU level.

Ecologists’ second strike secured a victory for the future of Romania’s agriculture: 14 villages in the Cluj county (the Huedin region) followed the example of their Bihor county neighbors and declared this region as free from any genetically modified organisms. The localities include the small town of Huedin and 13 villages, while the Bihor GMO-free zone includes two towns and 24 villages.

Forteen villages in the Cluj county (the Huedin region) followed the example of their Bihor county neighbors and declared this region GMO-Free. The localities include the small town of Huedin and 13 villages, while the Bihor GMO-free zone includes two towns and 24 villages.

Romania had banned GM soybean growing as a result of it"s accession to the European Union. Now large scale "testing" of Monsanto"s beans have been approved as well as tests of GM plum trees and a diversity of GM maize varieties. Has the environment ministry GMOs in Romania under control?