GM crops: Reaping the benefits, but not in Europe - Europabio
GM crops: Reaping the benefits, but not in Europe - Europabio
GM crops: Reaping the benefits, but not in Europe - Europabio
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7. IMPORTS, <strong>GM</strong> TRACES AND IMPACTS<br />
ON THE EUROPEAN CHAIN<br />
Asynchronous Approvals<br />
The number of <strong>GM</strong> products available worldwide is grow<strong>in</strong>g rapidly. O<strong>the</strong>r traits for maize and o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>GM</strong> <strong>crops</strong> (sugar beet, soya bean, rapeseed, potato and cotton) have been await<strong>in</strong>g EU approval for<br />
many years and have meanwhile been approved and grown elsewhere <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
Outsourc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Europe</strong>an agriculture<br />
One of <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong> political objectives of <strong>the</strong> EU’s common agricultural policy from its <strong>in</strong>ception has been<br />
self sufficiency. A newer objective is competitiveness. As far as animal feed is concerned, <strong>the</strong> EU today<br />
is far from both objectives. The <strong>Europe</strong>an Union imports significant quantities of gra<strong>in</strong>s (cereals and<br />
rapeseed) from third countries <strong>in</strong> order to meet <strong>Europe</strong>an food and feed demand. Over 40 million<br />
tons of gra<strong>in</strong> are imported per year from third countries, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g 34.1 million tons of soymeal and<br />
7.9 million tons of maize 43 . The EU’s net imports are equivalent to outsourc<strong>in</strong>g arable land almost as<br />
big as <strong>the</strong> entire area of Germany 44 .<br />
Trade flows of <strong>the</strong> four <strong>crops</strong> with significant volume of <strong>GM</strong> varieties<br />
15