1.Poland to ban Monsanto's GM maize
2.Greens drum up support against GM crops
NOTE: For background:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13800
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1.Poland to ban Monsanto's GM maize
AFP, 4 April 2012
http://www.france24.com/en/20120404-poland-ban-monsantos-gm-maize
Poland will impose a complete ban on growing the MON810 genetically modified strain of maize made by US company Monsanto on its territory, Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki said Wednesday.
"The decree is in the works. It introduces a complete ban on the MON810 strain of maize in Poland," Sawicki told reporters, adding that pollen of this strain could have a harmful effect on bees.
On March 9, seven European countries – Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Ireland and Slovakia – blocked a proposal by the Danish EU presidency to allow the cultivation of genetically-modified plants on the continent.
Seven days after that, France imposed a temporary ban on the MON810 strain.
Talks on allowing the growing of genetically-modified plants on EU soil are now deadlocked as no majority has emerged among the 27 member states.
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2.Greens drum up support against GM crops
Polskie Radio, 4 April 2012
http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/95428,Greens-drum-up-support-against-GM-crops
*Environmentalists banged a giant drum outside the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw, Tuesday, calling for a ban on genetically modified (GMO) maze.
[picture of the giant drum]
Several hundred activists from Greenpeace and other organisations protested from dawn to dusk yesterday.
"We banged the drum in the rhythm of a heartbeat to move the heart of the prime minister and ministers to implement the ban," said Greenpeace spokesman Jacek Winiarski.
Some of the railway workers who were also protesting outside the PM's Office, demanding better safety on Poland's railway network, also joined the protest, Winiarski claimed.
The environmentalists wanted a particular ban on the modified maize crop MON 810 being cultivated in Poland.
"This is one of only two varieties of GM crops allowed to be grown in Europe," the Greenpeace spokesman said.
The activists handed in a petition with 40,000 signatures calling for the ban.
MON 810, developed by the Monsanto company, was approved for use in the European Union in 1998, but since then, several countries – Austria, Hungary, Greece, France, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Germany – have banned its use.
The Environment Ministry said that it will be meeting with representatives of the Green movement to discuss GM crops on 11 April.