India, Feb. 23 -- After years of political wrangling by European Union policy makers, rising food prices may be putting genetically modified, or GM, food on the menu.Officials are set to vote later Tuesday on whether to allow trace amounts of unauthorized GM material in animal-feed imports, a move campaigners say could herald a shift in the bloc’s attitude to biotechnology and would mark a victory for the GM lobby, which has been pushing for a relaxation in the EU’s zerotolerance rules on imports for years. The pro-GM lobby argues current restrictions are hurting the profitability of raising livestock, in some cases making it uneconomic. The lobby says this puts thousands of jobs at risk by contributing to a supply crisis that is likely to raise meat prices for consumers already struggling with food-price inflation. Anti-GM groups, meanwhile, say the EU measure, should it pass, is the thin end of the wedge toward easing other safety regulations.
November 19, 2020 08:23 PM
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