Natural Society
September 17, 2012
In another massive victory against Monsanto and the spread of genetically modified crops, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayraul has announced that the nation will be maintaining a key ban on the only remaining GMO currently allowed in Europe. Known as Monsanto’s GMO maize crops, or MON810 maize, the original ban was brought forth back in March following the French court’s previous annulment on a November ban.
Thanks to activism by French citizens and serious political outcry, Monsanto is now effectively blocked from Europe’s gigantic marketplace. This is even more true when you consider the fact that France is the largest grower of crops in all of Europe, making it an agricultural behemoth of sorts. With this move by such a large and influential nation, it will surely lead to similar legislation to pop up and succeed throughout the rest of the globe. Of course like with most other decisions regarding Monsanto, even Reuters admits (see first link) that France was under large amounts of pressure to ‘soften’ its stance on GMOs.
This is due to the fact that Monsanto has significant pull when it
comes to government around the globe, with the United States in
particular being the ‘launch pad’ for the biotechnology movement. We now
know thanks to WikiLeaks,
in fact, that United States ambassadors have actually threatened
nations opposed to Monsanto’s GMO maize crops, going as far as to
threaten them with ‘military-style trade wars’. When considering that
this is but one leak, it is very concerning.
