Bayer-Aventis merger worries anti-GMO groups

Germany-based Bayer's worldwide acquisition this month of Aventis CropScience, a French biotechnology firm that has conducted a number of genetically modified organism (GMO) field trials in Poland, has local anti-GMO groups worried that the merger will lead to a return to extensive GMO experimentation on Polish soil. The powerful lobbying giant may be able to battle a restrictive new law clamped down on the sector last year, the groups say. "I suspect (Bayer) will continue GMO imports and trials," said Ewa Sieniarska, the vice president of the Socio-Ecological Institute (SIE), who also sits on the Environmental Ministry's 19-person GMO advisory committee. The merger of the two firms' Polish operations is expected to be announced June 21, pending approval by the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). The creation of Bayer CropScience comes on the heels of last year's law on GMOs, designed to bring Polish regulations in line with the European Union's. The law includes tougher conditions for granting GMO permits and research and outlines the criteria for evaluating threats to humans and the environment. The law also sets strict regulations on the labeling of all products containing GMOs. Anti-GMO campaigners charge that companies are breaking the new law by not yet monitoring and labeling their products.

"We are absolutely certain that GMOs are here in the Polish commercial food chain," said Ela Priwiezienciew, a coordinator for the SIE's GMO information campaign. "Between 1997-2001, the Central Health Office issued 193 permits (for GMO imports) to 53 firms. It's the law that all products containing GMOs must be labeled, but we have only found one company (Polgrunt) that does so, so where do all the GMOs go?" The tough new law forced all the biotech companies that had previously conducted GMO field trials in Poland, such as Aventis CropScience, Monsanto and Pioneer, to abandon their projects this year. "Now we don't have any field trials in Poland," said Thomas Horne, the country director of Monsanto Polska. "It's not that there is no demand, we have a clear legal situation that says we can't. We had sugar beets almost ready for the market, but because of the legal situation we are not marketing them and we are not preparing anything." Aventis CropScience also carried out a number of field trials on GMOs it was hoping to woo farmers with, Sieniarska said. Bayer Polska's Lechowska refused to say whether Bayer CropScience would return to conducting such trials. The suspension of GMO projects, according to some industry officials, is only temporary. Europe's attitude on the issue could change as soon as 2005, Horne said. But industry officials agree that GMOs are already in the Polish food chain. Furthermore, permits have been issued for the import of GMO soybeans and corn, a topic discussed last week at the Environmental Ministry's GMO advisory committee meeting, Sieniarska said. "Unfortunately it was approved by one vote, but there is still a chance that the minister will not sign it, so not all hope is lost just yet," she said. Industry officials said, however, that high-yield, quality GMOs could improve Poland's agricultural situation by increasing profitability. "Sure we have very high grain prices in Poland but this is because of the government," Monsanto's Thorne said. "Like all over the world, farmers can reduce their costs significantly. With GMO crops like sugar beets, we could reduce their costs almost by 60-70%."

Others were skeptical, though, that GMOs could be a lifeline for Polish agriculture. "We have very many small-scale farmers in Poland; there aren't many professional producers," said Stefan Malepszy, a professor of genetics and biotechnology at Warsaw Agricultural University. "As the majority's level of production is low, it wouldn't really change the situation at all. "But as an expert and a citizen I would like to see more GMO use in Poland," he said. "It offers cleaner production with less chemical use. But our law is very restrictive. The creation of another big biotech company (Bayer CropScience) could help encourage the government to be more receptive to GMOs. Not immediately, but slowly over time they may be convinced. At the moment, however, we have bigger problems in Poland."