In this photo taken Sept. 10, 2014, Monsanto crew members Gerard Manuel, left, and Rommel Angale, right, count corn sprouts in a field of test hybrids in a breeding nursery near Kihei, Hawaii. Maui County voters will decide in the next few weeks whether to ban the cultivation of genetically engineered organisms, at least temporarily. A “yes” vote on the Nov. 4 ballot initiative would require large multinational companies that research new varieties of corn and soybeans in Maui to stop farming until they are able to prove their methods are safe. This could upend global agriculture giant Monsanto’s research pipeline for new varieties of corn and soybeans. (AP Photo/The Maui News, Matthew Thayer)
BRUSSELS — European lawmakers have voted to give EU member states the power to ban cultivation of genetically modified crops on their territory even if they have been approved by the 28-nation bloc.
Tuesday’s vote on genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, must still be converted into EU-wide law by the bloc’s executive, the European Commission and national governments.
Gilles Pargneaux, a member of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, says the vote “brings more legal certainty to member states willing to limit or ban GMO cultivation in their territory.”
Environmentalists welcomed the vote by the parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee.