Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Distance Dispute Between GM and Traditional Maize

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BRASILIA, Jul 30 2007 (IPS) - A distance of a minimum of 100 meters between a commercial field of genetically modified corn and another field of conventional or organic corn is enough to prevent genetic contamination, says a proposal by Brazil's National Technical Commission on Biosafety. “The Commission is inconsistent, because the distance required for field experiments was 400 meters. Studies already conducted were not taken into account. There is already a report of contamination at 800 meters,” Gabriela Vuolo, coordinator of environmental watchdog Greenpeace-Brazil's genetic engineering campaign.

Through a legal ruling, genetically modified maize from the German company Bayer, resistant to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium, can only be released fro commercial cultivation after regulatory standards for coexistence with other crops have been determined. Those norms are to be defined by mid-August.