PARIS (AFP) — President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday he was willing to resort to an EU measure to ban genetically-modified crops in France if scientific studies confirm their safety was in doubt.
If a top scientific panel "raises serious doubts about GM crops now being cultivated in France, I am willing to resort to the safeguard clause," Sarkozy told a news conference at the Elysee presidential palace.
Sarkozy spoke six days after farmer-activist Jose Bove started a hunger strike along with 15 supporters to press the government to impose the ban on GM crops.
The scientific panel is to deliver its conclusions on Wednesday as parliament is considering new legislation on regulating GM crops, which account for less than one percent of farmland in France, Europe's top agricultural producer.
Bove, who was convicted last year of ripping up GM crops in southern France, is demanding that the government use the safeguard clause allowing EU countries to ban GM crops.
The government has suspended use of the highly bug-resistant MON810 maize developed by Monsanto and the only GM crop authorised in France, pending new legislation.
While production of GM maize remains small in France, it has increased: some 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of the crop were planted in 2007, up from 5,000 hectares in 2006.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
