BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law

GMOs edge forward

March 23, 1998 8:00 AM UTC

AgrEvo, Monsanto and Novartis have moved closer to being able to commercialize a number of genetically modified seeds in Europe. Members of the regulatory committee overseeing Directive 90/220/EEC, the so-called deliberate release into the environment directive, last week voted in favor of four European Commission proposals concerning approval to market products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The regulatory committee agreed to allow AgrEvo's glufosinate-tolerant oilseed rape to be imported into the European Union for processing, but not for cultivation. Similarly, the Novartis Bt-11 corn, modified to have the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) toxin gene and to be able to tolerate the glufosinate herbicide, can be imported for processing but not cultivation...