EU Court decision: deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms ... does not entitle a Member State to prohibit in a general manner the cultivation on its territory

The Cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms such as the MON 810 Maize Varieties Cannot be Made Subject to a Member State's Authorization Procedure when the Use and Marketing of those Varieties are Already Authorized by the EU, according to a September 6, 2012 ruling made by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which states that the Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the "... deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms ... does not entitle a Member State to prohibit in a general manner the cultivation on its territory of such genetically modified organisms pending the adoption of coexistence measures to avoid the unintended presence of genetically modified organisms in other crops ..."


Document Title: The title of the September 6, 2012 Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union is "Case C‑36/11: Pioneer Hi Bred Italia Srl v. Ministero delle Politiche agricole alimentari e forestali"

Organization: Court of Justice of the European Union

Source: September 6, 2012 Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union; Case C‑36/11

Web site: The September 6, 2012 Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union is posted at
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=126437&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=1326638

The September 6, 2012 Bloomberg news article, titled "Court Says EU-Vetted GMOs Not Subject to Country Approval", is posted at
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-06/court-says-eu-vetted-gmos-not-subject-to-country-approval.html

Information about the Court of Justice of the European Union is available at
http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/court-justice/index_en.htm

Contact: None provided

Summary: The following information is taken from the September 6, 2012 Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union:

Judgment

1 This reference for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 26a of Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC (OJ 2001 L 106, p. 1), as amended by Directive 2008/27/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 (OJ 2008 L 81, p. 45 ; ‘Directive 2001/18’), read in conjunction with Commission Recommendation 2003/556/EC of 23 July 2003 on guidelines for the development of national strategies and best practices to ensure the coexistence of genetically modified crops with conventional and organic farming (OJ 2003 L 189, p. 36; ‘the Recommendation of 23 July 2003’) and Commission Recommendation of 13 July 2010 on guidelines for the development of national measures to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs in conventional and organic crops (OJ 2010 C 200, p. 1; ‘the Recommendation of 13 July 2010’).

2 The reference has been made in a dispute between Pioneer Hi Bred Italia Srl (‘Pioneer’) and the Ministero delle Politiche agricole alimentari e forestali (Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies) concerning the legality of a note from the latter informing Pioneer that, pending the adoption by the regions of rules to ensure the coexistence of conventional, organic and genetically modified crops, it could not consider that company’s application for authorisation to cultivate hybrids of genetically modified maize derived from MON 810 which were already listed in the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species (‘the common catalogue’).

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On those grounds, the Court (Fourth Chamber) hereby rules:

1. The cultivation of genetically modified organisms such as the MON 810 maize varieties cannot be made subject to a national authorisation procedure when the use and marketing of those varieties are authorised pursuant to Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed and those varieties have been accepted for inclusion in the common catalogue provided for in Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species, as amended by Regulation No 1829/2003.

2. Article 26a of Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC, as amended by Directive 2008/27/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008, does not entitle a Member State to prohibit in a general manner the cultivation on its territory of such genetically modified organisms pending the adoption of coexistence measures to avoid the unintended presence of genetically modified organisms in other crops.


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