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Genetically Modified Organisms Law

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Handbook of Agri-Food Law in China, Germany, European Union

Abstract

Within the field of conflict between the conservation of natural resources and the production of food, the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) remains subject of highly controversial discussions. On the one hand, genetic engineering allows the creation of high-yield or pest and pesticide-resistant plants and thus enables better production, even in areas with difficult agricultural conditions. On the other hand, the use of GMO in agriculture carries the risk of out crossing with natural sorts which could endanger biodiversity. Therefore, the attitude of consumers towards GMO is quiet critical—in China as well as in the European Union. This article deals with the legal system that Germany, the European Union, and China established to master this balance between the use of GMO and environmental and consumer protection within the margin set by international law.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    World Trade Organisation (2006).

  2. 2.

    European Commission (2015). http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-4778_en.htm. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  3. 3.

    Schubert (2010), p. 871.

  4. 4.

    VGH Kassel, Beschluss vom 06.11.1989—8 TH 685/89 (1990) NVwZ, p. 276.

  5. 5.

    Monien (2014), p. 260.

  6. 6.

    European Commission (2003); amended by European Commission (2010).

  7. 7.

    Case C-58/10—68/10 Monsanto SAS v Ministre de l’Agriculture et de la Pêche [2011] ECR I-7786, paras 50–54; Roller (2005), p. 117.

  8. 8.

    http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/agriculture/food/l21154_de.htm. Accessed 13 August 2014.

  9. 9.

    See Regulation (EC) 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed [2003] OJ L 268/1, art 4 (1) and (3).

  10. 10.

    Regulation (EC) 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed [2003] OJ L 268/1, art 5.

  11. 11.

    http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/agriculture/food/l21154_de.htm. Accessed 13 August 2014.

  12. 12.

    EU Register of authorised GMOs. http://ec.europa.eu/food/dyna/gm_register/index_en.cfm. Assessed 21 August 2016.

  13. 13.

    Joined Cases C-439/05 P and 454/05 P Land Oberösterreich and Republic of Austria v Commission of the European Communities [2007] ECR I-7185, para 61.

  14. 14.

    Directive (EU) 2015/412 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2015 amending Directive 2001/18/EC as regards the possibility for the Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their territory [2015] OJ L 68/1.

  15. 15.

    BT Drs. 18/10459.

  16. 16.

    BT Drs. 18/6664.

  17. 17.

    BT Drs. 18/6664, pp. 6–8.

  18. 18.

    BT Drs. 18/10459, pp. 11–12.

  19. 19.

    Status as of June 2017.

  20. 20.

    Regulation (EC) 1830/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 concerning the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms [2003] OJ L 268/24, recital 3.

  21. 21.

    Regulation (EC) 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed [2003] OJ L 268/1, recital 16.

  22. 22.

    Case C-442/09 Bablok and others v Freistaat Bayern [2011] ECR I-7460, paras 77–79.

  23. 23.

    Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey [2010] OJ L 10/47.

  24. 24.

    The system of unique identifiers is regulated in the Commission Regulation (EC) 65/2004 of 14 January 2004 establishing a system for the development and assignment of unique identifiers for genetically modified organisms [2004] OJ L 10/5.

  25. 25.

    http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=URISERV:l21170&from=DE. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  26. 26.

    http://www.bund.net/themen_und_projekte/gentechnik/gesetze_und_zulassungen/zulassung_von_gvo/. Accessed 04 June 2016.

  27. 27.

    Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft (2014), pp. 4–5.

  28. 28.

    The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) (2014). http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/49/. Accessed 6 February 2017; facts cited here are available at: http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/49/toptenfacts/default.asp. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  29. 29.

    Wang (2001), pp. 205–207.

  30. 30.

    Office of Inter-ministerial Committee on Biosafety Management of Agricultural GMOs, Department of Science Popularization of China Association for Science and Technology (2011), pp. 40–41.

  31. 31.

    Office of Inter-ministerial Committee on Biosafety Management of Agricultural GMOs (2010a). http://www.moa.gov.cn/ztzl/zjyqwgz/zswd/201007/t20100717_1601250.htm. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  32. 32.

    Office of Inter-ministerial Committee on Biosafety Management of Agricultural GMOs (2010b). http://www.moa.gov.cn/ztzl/zjyqwgz/zcfg/201007/t20100717_1601290.htm. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  33. 33.

    Ministry of Environmental Protection (2015). http://bch.cbd.int/database/record.shtml?documentid=109097. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  34. 34.

    Ministry of Environmental Protection (2008). https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cn/cn-nr-04-en.pdf. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  35. 35.

    Office of Inter-ministerial Committee on Biosafety Management of Agricultural GMOs, Department of Science Popularization of China Association for Science and Technology (2011).

  36. 36.

    National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (2011). http://www.npc.gov.cn/wxzl/gongbao/2011-12/30/content_1686389.htm. Accessed 6 February 2017.

  37. 37.

    The Third Committee on Biosafety of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms had 60 members, with 29 experts on botany and plant microbiology, 11 experts on animals and animal microbiology, 18 experts on food safety science and 2 experts on management. Those scientists were recommended by the departments of the environment, forestry, inspection and quarantine, health, education and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  38. 38.

    Tong (2013), pp. 72–74.

  39. 39.

    Relevant websites for biosafety of GMOs in China are as follows: National Biosafety Clearing-House Mechanism (http://www.biosafety.gov.cn/), MOA Website for Biosafety (http://www.stee.agri.gov.cn/biosafety), Biotechnology Information in China (http://www.biotech.org.cn/), MOA Website for Focus on GMOs (http://www.moa.gov.cn/ztzl/zjyqwgz/), The Agro-gene Network (http://www.agrogene.cn).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EAM GmbH & Co. KG, Kassel, Germany

    Johanna Monien

  2. European University Frankfurt (Oder), Chair of Public Law, Administrative, European, Environmental, Agricultural and Food Law, Faculty of Law, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

    Johanna Monien

  3. China Agricultural University, Department of Development Studies, Beijing, China

    Yuanyuan Cai

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  1. Johanna Monien
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  2. Yuanyuan Cai
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Correspondence to Johanna Monien .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

    Ines Härtel

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Monien, J., Cai, Y. (2018). Genetically Modified Organisms Law. In: Härtel, I. (eds) Handbook of Agri-Food Law in China, Germany, European Union. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67666-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67666-1_9

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