Germany wants to halt GM crop use until 2003

GERMANY: June 22, 2000

BERLIN - The German government is trying to persuade agro-businesses not to
grow genetically modified plants until 2003 so that it can investigate their
effect on the environment.

"In this timeframe the environmental effect of commercial application and
extensive cultivation of GM plants should be determined," Germany's Social
Democrat-Green ruling coalition said in a draft proposal obtained by Reuters
on Wednesday.

GM plants - developed to improve crop strains by, for example, making them
resistant to herbicides - are controversial in Europe, where some fear
unforeseen side effects. The European Union is contemplating tough new laws
to govern their use.

The German proposal follows a scandal last month in which farmers in
Germany, Britain, Sweden, France and Luxembourg unknowingly grew some GM
modified crops after importing seeds from Canada. France ordered its farmers
to destroy the crops.

The German government paper said the pause in GM crops would "create the
basis for the responsible use of the innovation potential of GM plants". A
voluntary pause could also help increase public acceptance of the crops, it
said.

The document proposed talks with agro-business to discuss the plan but set
no date.

The proposal follows the government's success last week in persuading energy
companies to agree to phase out the use of nuclear power, a key policy
demand of the SPD's ecologist junior coalition partners.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE