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The European Patent Office will use a patent on broccoli (EP 1069819) for a fundamental ruling, on whether or not conventional plants are patentable. All other broccoli plants with similar genes are considered as "technical inventions" by the patent. Next week EPO will decide on the future of broccoli…

In the future, EU Member States should be able to decide for themselves on the cultivation of genetically modified plants. By making changes to shared laws on gene technology, the EU Commission intends to overcome the political blockade that has been in place for years. In an internal strategy paper, the EU Commission presented the first suggestions for a new gene technology policy that already had been signalised by the Commission President Barroso prior to his re-election in August.

Genetically modified foods are not allowed to be sold in Finland, but it remains difficult for the critical consumer to completely avoid groceries that utilise GM technology in some shape or form. “Genetically modified vegetables are used to produce medicines, and these medicines may also be used in organic production,” says Markku Keinänen, a researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and a member of the Advisory Board on Biotechnology.

With not a single vote in favour and 168 against, proposals to lift existing limitations on cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Bulgaria were thrown out by Parliament on March 18 2010. The surprise decision came after ruling GERB party changed its position and dropped its support for the bill, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik said.

The Bulgarian Parliamentary Committee on the Environment has agreed that GMOs will not be allowed within 7 kms of organic farmland, and 10 kms away from permanent, registered beehive clusters. They also adopted a five-year ban on the cultivation of GMOs for commercial and scientific research in the field. The document was voted before the new law on GMOs was adopted on second reading. The committee has accepted these changes to the Law on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) at the proposal of Evdokiya Maneva, Deputy Minister of Environment and Water.

Sofia, 12.02.2010

The Environment and Water Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament yesterday (February 11) agreed a five-year ban on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The final approval of the bill which will be voted by the Bulgarian National Assembly in a second reading is scheduled for next week.

The ban follows a wave of protests last two months in which farmers, NGOs, consumers' and mothers' initiative groups came together in five different cities of the country - Sofia, Ruse, Varna, Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo. More than fifteen thousand signatures were collected supporting the petition "GM- free Bulgaria" and another five thousand demanding a ban on the maize hybrid MON810. The Prime Minister Boiko Borisov received two thousand postcards painted by children appealing to him to keep Bulgaria GMO free.

The Environment and Water Committee accepted new texts in the GMO act which were proposed by NGOs: the demand that owners and tenants of agricultural land located next to farms planting GM crops should expressly grant their permission; bigger distances for fields neighbouring with GM cultivated land, etc

With its adoption of this ban on the cultivation of GMOs in Bulgaria the National Assembly has shown that it listens to the demands of the Bulgarian people. The enormous interest demonstrated by the public and the media in Bulgaria has increased the level of knowledge in the country about genetically modified crops and from now on people will follow very carefully every political step made in the field of genetic engineering for agriculture. Yet the doubts for inconsistent politics remain with the refusal of the Ministry of Agriculture to support the organic farming" said Svetla Nikolova, chair of AGROLINK.

Contact: Svetla Nikolova

AGROLINK Association, +359 888 359 239

e-mail: svetla.nikolova@agrolink.org, www.agrolink.org

The Bulgarian Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Water has adopted the proposed changes to the GMO Act including the 5-year ban on GM Crop cultivation. The decision was backed by the 11 MPs on the Committee and will be voted on next week in the second hearing of the Act in the Bulgarian Parliament. It was passed at its first reading in January.

The highest appeals court in Italy has overturned a standing ban on the cultivation of genetically modified plants. The Ministry of Agriculture and a majority of the population seem otherwise inclined. According to London weekly Agra Europe, the highest court in Italy has instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to allow the planting of genetically modified (GM) maize.

Turkey, the 27th largest export market for all U.S. goods, issued a new regulation placing additional requirements on all food and feed products containing genetically enhanced components. This new regulation essentially came without warning, according to U.S. Grains Council Regional Director in the Middle East and Subcontinent Joe O’Brien. ”This ban came at us pretty much out of the blue,” he said.

Monsanto Co., the world’s biggest seed maker, said Thursday it plans to make deeper work force cuts than previously announced, saying it will reduce its staff by about 8 percent to cut costs. The St. Louis-based company also said its 2009 earnings would come in at the low end of its previous forecast due in part to weaker than expected results from Roundup and other herbicides. Its shares tumbled $4.18, or 5 percent, to close at $79.30 Thursday.