1. news feature news feature
Europe
GM world view After a five-year hiatus, the European Union (EU) is
expected to resume approving commercial plantings
of genetically modified (GM) crops within the next few
months. Ever since the last approval in October 1998,
France, Italy, Denmark, Greece and Luxembourg
banded together to say ‘no’ to GM crops. Now that
Asia
The Philippines became the first Asian country to approve a
transgenic version of a staple food crop for commercial growth
when Bt maize, which produces an insecticidal toxin, was given
Today, just four countries account for 99% of the world’s the EU has agreed on regulations for labelling and
the go-ahead last December. This is expected to set a precedent
for GM rice varieties to be researched there.
tracking GM produce, the grounds for these
China was ploughing ahead with transgenic agriculture until
commercially grown transgenic crops. But that is changing countries’ objections have largely been removed.
Even so, individual member states are expected to
2000, when its government suddenly backed away from the
commercial approval of GM food crops. The country claims that
fight for additional regulations concerning such things
— policies are being thrashed out, laws drawn up and as the creation of GM-free areas or commercial
this cautionary stance is a result of safety concerns raised in the
West. But critics in the United States charge that China is simply
liability for problems caused by GM crops.
seeds sown. Here we show how GM is taking root. A handful of transgenic crops was approved
before 1998, but only one — a variety of herbicide-
waiting until its own varieties are advanced enough to compete
effectively with those from abroad. At present, half the country’s
cotton is transgenic — and a large proportion of that is from the
resistant maize — is being grown in any significant
US company Monsanto rather than from China.
amount, and that only in Spain.
Japan has made agricultural biotechnology a focus of its
science budget, although GM enthusiasts are having to fight
hard to overcome strong public opposition. Currently 38 GM
food plants have been given approval for commercial release
Area planted with into the environment and 55 have passed the health ministry’s
food-safety provision. But none is being grown commercially
commercial GM crops because of lack of consumer demand.
in 2002, by country
(million hectares) C A N A DA
(3.5 million hectares)
North America GERMANY
The United States is the world’s leading ROMAN IA
30–40 GM nation, both in terms of the area under
cultivation and public acceptance of UN I T E D BULGARIA
BU LG ARIA India
transgenic food. GM crops are everywhere, S PAIN
making up 40% of the country’s maize, S TATE S As the world’s largest cotton-growing nation,
CHIN A
10–15 81% of soya beans, 65% of canola, or JAPAN India could become a huge market for
oilseed rape, and 73% of cotton — and (39 million hectares) transgenic cotton. The government
those numbers are still growing. GM crops
(2.1 million hectares)
approved commercial planting of varieties
are widely used in food for both humans engineered to produce the insecticidal Bt
1–5 and animals, none of which needs to be protein in 2002, although in the first year only
labelled as transgenic. 0.5% of the country’s cotton was transgenic.
The situation is similar in Canada, More generally, attitudes towards GM
M E X I CO IN DIA
where GM corn, soya beans and canola are crops are influenced by national pride, with
widely grown. But concern is building opposition focused on the products of
Less than 1 about the next target for agribiotech giant foreign multinational companies, rather than
Monsanto, which is applying to both the US HONDURAS homegrown technologies. India’s
and Canadian governments for permission government supports local research into
to market GM wheat. Canadian farmers P HILIP P IN ES
high-protein potato, high-yield mustard, and
Officially 0 fear that the introduction of transgenic drought- and salt-tolerant rice, for example.
varieties could destroy their foreign But it banned the import of maize-soya flour
markets, particularly in Japan, where GM CO LO M B I A from US aid agencies last year after several
products aren’t welcomed by consumers. Indian environmental organizations protested
against their potential GM content.
INDONESIA
Mexico
Worldwide cultivation of the four main
commercial GM crops in 2002 Transgenic cotton grows in Mexico’s fields and, BRAZIL
(million hectares) despite regulations to the contrary, it seems
probable that some GM maize grows there too.
Mexico is home to the world’s oldest and most
Not GM diverse varieties of maize, and the government
banned the growth of GM maize five years ago to
Australasia
140
protect this genetic heritage. Since then, some
GM researchers have produced evidence suggesting
GM cotton in Australia is set to boom. Currently AUSTRAL IA
that transgenes have spread to Mexican maize
SOUTH farmers can only plant up to 30% of their cotton
varieties. Unlabelled GM maize is widely imported
crop with Bt varieties, in order to reduce the (0.1 million hectares)
into the country for food, and so could have wound
AFRICA chance of insects developing resistance to the
URUGUAY insecticidal toxin that the crops produce. But a
72 up in some farmers’ fields, allowing cross-
pollination to occur. But these results, which have
(0.3 million hectares) new version of GM cotton approved for the
coming growing season, which produces two
inflamed the debate over the extent to which
transgenic crops can be kept under control, are
A R GE N TIN A insecticidal toxins and so should have fewer N EW
problems with resistance, will be allowed to
still hotly debated.
(13.5 million hectares) Africa cover 80% of fields. A transgenic form of canola ZEALAND
37 34 has also been given the go-ahead by the federal
South Africa is the only African country government. But most individual states, worried
25 with a developed commercial sector —
South America about the trade implications, have not yet
12 80% of its cotton, 20% of its maize and approved its commercial release.
7 3 Brazil has in recent weeks approved the planting of GM soya 11% of its soya is genetically modified. In New Zealand, a moratorium on the
beans for this year’s growing season, which could pave the Agribiotech firms see the rest of Africa as commercial planting of GM crops will be lifted on
Soya Cotton Canola / Corn / way to permanent legalization of the crop. The approval an important testing ground for the future. 29 October. But no one expects a rush of
oilseed maize comes after court rulings in 1998 and 1999 that banned the They are now jostling with anti-GM commercial planting, as the country’s farmers
rape growth of GM crops and effectively paralysed research in the activists to influence the hearts and don’t grow much cotton, soya beans or canola.
area. But farmers have been planting GM soya regardless — minds of African scientists, opinion- They do grow maize, but New Zealand isn’t
in some states 80% of the crop is believed to be transgenic. formers and the public. troubled by the corn-borer pest that transgenic
The seeds that sowed Brazil’s illicit transgenic soya Bt maize is engineered to resist. The lifting of the
Source: C. James Global Status of ban is, however, expected to prompt applications
boom were imported from neighbouring Argentina, which
Commercialized Transgenic Crops: for farm-scale trials of GM crops — particularly
(Preview); www.isaaa.org/kc has a strongly pro-GM government. Some 90% of the
country’s soya beans are transgenic, as well as 50% of its potatoes, which are already in smaller field trials.
maize and some of its cotton.
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