The "double challenge"” “” “

The debate on GMO – genetically modified organisms – continues, in a week in which the EU Agriculture Council approved the Regulation on the traceability and labelling of products containing GMOs, accompanied by the presentation of the new EU guidelines for the co-existence of GMO and GMO-free crops in selected EU areas (see page 12). To get a scientific view on the issue, SirEurope met Bernard Watillon , Belgian agronomist in the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences at the University of Gembloux and head of the Department of Biotechnology at the Centre of Agronomic Research of the Walloon Region, one of the major centres for basic and applied research on the biotechnologies. In contrast to the head of the European Coordination of farmers (CPE) Gerard Choplin, firmly opposed to the co-existence of GMOs and naturally grown produce in the European agricultural system (cf. SirEurope no. 53/2003), Watillon says he is substantially in favour of such a practice, though it requires, he stresses, the right balance to be struck between risks and benefits. The utility of GMO for European agriculture: what is the point of view of scientific research? “European agriculture must ensure an abundant and ever growing production of high quality goods, while at the same time safeguarding competitiveness (at the economic level) and respecting the environment. To be able to meet these challenges, it can rely on the new technological resources that derive from the progress in scientific knowledge. Plant transgenesis represents one of the most promising of these technological developments; European society cannot afford to ignore it”. What are the minimum scientific and ethical conditions for the use of GMOs? “The use of any technology poses the problem of how to strike the right balance between the risks and benefits that flow from it. By guiding with precision the process of research and guaranteeing free choice to the consumer, the current European legislator is creating the conditions for a responsible use of GMOs. But it is on a case-by-case basis that the decision whether to accept the specific application of a GMO or not must be taken: the general interest must be put before any vested interest”. What’s your view of the EU proposal aimed at guaranteeing the co-existence between traditional and transgenetic crops? “A proposal of this kind implies a dual challenge: first, identifying what instruments to apply to ensure the co-existence of the two kinds of crops; second, and more importantly, defining the values (human, economic and social) that European citizens wish to preserve during the production process; values in relation to which recourse to GMO represents just one option among many”.