BETA


2019/2856(RSP) Resolution on the draft Commission implementing decision renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of products containing, consisting of or produced from genetically modified cotton LLCotton25 (ACS-GHØØ1-3) pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead ENVI PIETIKÄINEN Sirpa (icon: EPP EPP), SIDL Günther (icon: S&D S&D), METZ Tilly (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), HAZEKAMP Anja (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL), EVI Eleonora (icon: NA NA)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 112-p2

Events

2020/02/11
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2019/11/14
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2019/11/14
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2019/11/14
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 448 votes to 189, with 28 abstentions, a resolution objecting to the draft Commission implementing decision renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of products containing, consisting of or produced from genetically modified cotton LLCotton25 (ACS-GHØØ1-3) pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Commission Decision 2008/837/EC authorised the placing on the market of food and feed containing, consisting of, or produced from genetically modified cotton LLCotton25. On 2 October 2017, the initial authorisation holder, Bayer CropScience AG, submitted to the Commission an application for the renewal of that authorisation.

While the human consumption of cottonseed oil may be relatively limited in Europe, it can be found in a wide variety of food products, including dressings, mayonnaise, fine bakery wares, chocolate spreads and chips. Cotton is fed to animals mainly in the form of cottonseed cake/meal or as full fat cottonseeds.

Member State comments

Member States submitted many critical comments to EFSA during the three-month consultation period which followed the publication of a favourable opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted on 17 October 2018.

These comments concern: (i) the effects of glufosinate residues and metabolites were not considered; (ii) the results of the toxicity test can be considered correct, that neither allergenicity nor toxicology has been thoroughly assessed; (iii) monitoring reports produced by the applicant do not provide any data to support the conclusions that there have been no adverse health or environmental effects associated with the import and use of LLCotton25; (iv) the general surveillance plan proposed by the applicant does not meet the requirements of Annex VII to Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Lack of assessment of glufosinate residues

Recalling that LLCotton25 has been made tolerant to glufosinate-based herbicides, Members highlighted that a number of studies show that herbicide-tolerant GM crops result in a higher use of those herbicides, in large part because of the emergence of herbicide-tolerant weeds. Crops of LLCotton25 will be exposed to both higher and repeated doses of glufosinate which will potentially lead to a higher quantity of residues in the harvest. Glufosinate is classified as toxic to reproduction 1B and the approval of glufosinate for use in the Union expired on 31 July 2018.

Under the latest coordinated multiannual control programme of the Union (for 2020, 2021 and 2022), Member States are not obliged to measure glufosinate residues on any products, including cotton.

According to Members, it cannot be excluded that LLCotton25 or products derived from it for food and feed will exceed MRLs, which have been put in place to ensure a high level of consumer protection.

Undemocratic decision-making

Members stressed that the Commission recognised the fact that GMO authorisation decisions continue to be adopted by the Commission without a qualified majority of Member States in favour, which is very much the exception for product authorisations as a whole but has become the norm for decision-making on GM food and feed authorisations, is problematic. That practice has, on several occasions, been deplored by the Commission President as not being democratic.

On the basis of these comments, Parliament called on the Commission:

- to withdraw its draft implementing decision;

- in the meantime, to stop authorising GMOs when no opinion is delivered by Member States in the Appeal Committee, whether for cultivation or for food and feed uses, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011;

- not to authorise herbicide-tolerant GM crops until the health risks associated with the residues have been comprehensively investigated on a case-by-case basis, which requires a full assessment of the residues from spraying the GM crops with complementary herbicides, their metabolites and any combinatorial effects;

- to fully integrate the risk assessment of the application of complementary herbicides and their residues into the risk assessment of herbicide-tolerant GM plants, regardless of whether the GM plant concerned is to be cultivated in the Union or is for import into the Union for food and feed uses;

- not to authorise the import for food or feed uses of any GM plant which has been made tolerant to a herbicide-active substance that is not authorised for use in the Union.

Parliament reiterated its commitment to advancing work on the Commission proposal amending Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

A recent report by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right to food found that, hazardous pesticides have catastrophic impacts on health, with pesticides responsible for an estimated 200 000 acute poisoning deaths each year, 99 per cent of which occur in developing countries. In this context, the Commission is urged to treat the Union’s obligations under international agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to give them the weight they deserve, as well as communicating on how they have been taken into account in the decision-making process.

Documents
2019/11/14
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2019/10/10
   EP - PIETIKÄINEN Sirpa (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in ENVI
2019/10/10
   EP - SIDL Günther (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in ENVI
2019/10/10
   EP - METZ Tilly (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in ENVI
2019/10/10
   EP - HAZEKAMP Anja (GUE/NGL) appointed as rapporteur in ENVI
2019/10/10
   EP - EVI Eleonora (NA) appointed as rapporteur in ENVI

Documents

Activities

Votes

B9-0170/2019 - Résolution #

2019/11/14 Outcome: +: 448, -: 189, 0: 28
FR IT PL HU EL AT GB BG HR BE LV ES FI SK PT CY SI LU EE DE IE MT DK LT RO CZ SE NL
Total
64
69
47
20
20
17
48
16
11
20
7
48
13
11
18
6
6
6
5
87
10
6
13
11
25
18
20
23
icon: S&D S&D
135

Greece S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Slovakia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Estonia S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Netherlands S&D

3
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
68

Austria Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Spain Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

2

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

2

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3
icon: ID ID
68
3

Belgium ID

2

Finland ID

2

Estonia ID

For (1)

1

Denmark ID

Against (1)

1

Czechia ID

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
38

Belgium GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

3

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Czechia GUE/NGL

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
36

Hungary NI

1

Croatia NI

Abstain (1)

2

Slovakia NI

2

Germany NI

1
icon: ECR ECR
59

Greece ECR

1

United Kingdom ECR

3

Bulgaria ECR

2

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1

Latvia ECR

2

Slovakia ECR

2

Germany ECR

Against (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

1
3

Netherlands ECR

4
icon: Renew Renew
94

Hungary Renew

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Austria Renew

Against (1)

1

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Belgium Renew

4

Latvia Renew

Against (1)

1

Finland Renew

3

Slovakia Renew

2

Slovenia Renew

For (1)

1

Luxembourg Renew

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Estonia Renew

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Ireland Renew

Against (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

2

Sweden Renew

3
icon: PPE PPE
167

Croatia PPE

Abstain (1)

4

Belgium PPE

Abstain (1)

4

Latvia PPE

2

Finland PPE

3

Slovakia PPE

Against (1)

3

Cyprus PPE

Against (1)

2

Slovenia PPE

Against (1)

4

Luxembourg PPE

2

Ireland PPE

3

Malta PPE

2

Denmark PPE

Against (1)

1

Czechia PPE

Against (1)

3

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

committees/0/rapporteur/3/group
Old
Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left
New
The Left group in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL
docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2019-0170_EN.html
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2019-0170_EN.html
docs/1
date
2020-02-11T00:00:00
docs
url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=41640&j=0&l=en title: SP(2020)7
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
events/0
date
2019-11-14T00:00:00
type
Results of vote in Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=41640&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
events/0
date
2019-11-14T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2019-0054_EN.html title: T9-0054/2019
summary
events/1
date
2019-11-14T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2019-0054_EN.html title: T9-0054/2019
summary
docs
  • date: 2019-11-14T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2019-0170_EN.html title: B9-0170/2019 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
events
  • date: 2019-11-14T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2019-0054_EN.html title: T9-0054/2019 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 448 votes to 189, with 28 abstentions, a resolution objecting to the draft Commission implementing decision renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of products containing, consisting of or produced from genetically modified cotton LLCotton25 (ACS-GHØØ1-3) pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Commission Decision 2008/837/EC authorised the placing on the market of food and feed containing, consisting of, or produced from genetically modified cotton LLCotton25. On 2 October 2017, the initial authorisation holder, Bayer CropScience AG, submitted to the Commission an application for the renewal of that authorisation. While the human consumption of cottonseed oil may be relatively limited in Europe, it can be found in a wide variety of food products, including dressings, mayonnaise, fine bakery wares, chocolate spreads and chips. Cotton is fed to animals mainly in the form of cottonseed cake/meal or as full fat cottonseeds. Member State comments Member States submitted many critical comments to EFSA during the three-month consultation period which followed the publication of a favourable opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted on 17 October 2018. These comments concern: (i) the effects of glufosinate residues and metabolites were not considered; (ii) the results of the toxicity test can be considered correct, that neither allergenicity nor toxicology has been thoroughly assessed; (iii) monitoring reports produced by the applicant do not provide any data to support the conclusions that there have been no adverse health or environmental effects associated with the import and use of LLCotton25; (iv) the general surveillance plan proposed by the applicant does not meet the requirements of Annex VII to Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Lack of assessment of glufosinate residues Recalling that LLCotton25 has been made tolerant to glufosinate-based herbicides, Members highlighted that a number of studies show that herbicide-tolerant GM crops result in a higher use of those herbicides, in large part because of the emergence of herbicide-tolerant weeds. Crops of LLCotton25 will be exposed to both higher and repeated doses of glufosinate which will potentially lead to a higher quantity of residues in the harvest. Glufosinate is classified as toxic to reproduction 1B and the approval of glufosinate for use in the Union expired on 31 July 2018. Under the latest coordinated multiannual control programme of the Union (for 2020, 2021 and 2022), Member States are not obliged to measure glufosinate residues on any products, including cotton. According to Members, it cannot be excluded that LLCotton25 or products derived from it for food and feed will exceed MRLs, which have been put in place to ensure a high level of consumer protection. Undemocratic decision-making Members stressed that the Commission recognised the fact that GMO authorisation decisions continue to be adopted by the Commission without a qualified majority of Member States in favour, which is very much the exception for product authorisations as a whole but has become the norm for decision-making on GM food and feed authorisations, is problematic. That practice has, on several occasions, been deplored by the Commission President as not being democratic. On the basis of these comments, Parliament called on the Commission: - to withdraw its draft implementing decision; - in the meantime, to stop authorising GMOs when no opinion is delivered by Member States in the Appeal Committee, whether for cultivation or for food and feed uses, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011; - not to authorise herbicide-tolerant GM crops until the health risks associated with the residues have been comprehensively investigated on a case-by-case basis, which requires a full assessment of the residues from spraying the GM crops with complementary herbicides, their metabolites and any combinatorial effects; - to fully integrate the risk assessment of the application of complementary herbicides and their residues into the risk assessment of herbicide-tolerant GM plants, regardless of whether the GM plant concerned is to be cultivated in the Union or is for import into the Union for food and feed uses; - not to authorise the import for food or feed uses of any GM plant which has been made tolerant to a herbicide-active substance that is not authorised for use in the Union. Parliament reiterated its commitment to advancing work on the Commission proposal amending Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. A recent report by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right to food found that, hazardous pesticides have catastrophic impacts on health, with pesticides responsible for an estimated 200 000 acute poisoning deaths each year, 99 per cent of which occur in developing countries. In this context, the Commission is urged to treat the Union’s obligations under international agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to give them the weight they deserve, as well as communicating on how they have been taken into account in the decision-making process.
  • date: 2019-11-14T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
forecasts
  • date: 2019-11-14T00:00:00 title: Vote in plenary scheduled
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
New
Procedure completed
procedure/title
Old
Objection pursuant to Rule 112: renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of products containing, consisting of or produced from genetically modified cotton LLCotton25 (ACS-GHØØ1-3)
New
Resolution on the draft Commission implementing decision renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of products containing, consisting of or produced from genetically modified cotton LLCotton25 (ACS-GHØØ1-3) pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council