This decision was welcomed by environmentalist organization Friends of the Earth Europe. "We might have won the battle today, but we’ve not won the war yet", said activist Adrian Bebb, representative of the organization, to Real World Radio. The activist also said that "we will kick the biotech giants out of Europe altogether".

A representative of BASF in charge of genetically modified organisms, Stefan Marcinowski, acknowledged yesterday that “there is still a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe – from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians”. “It does not make business sense to continue investing in products exclusively for cultivation in this market”, according to AFP news agency.

The German company has halted the cultivation and trade of GM potato Amflora. This type of potato was allowed in the European Union (EU) in 2010, after a 10-year-long lobby process by BASF. In its first year of cultivation, the potato was contaminated with another GM potato variety called Amadea, which was not authorized. This was a scandal. The cultivation of Amflora was now limited to two hectares of land in Germany, and the sales in 2011 were virtually null, said a BASF spokesperson to AFP.

Friends of the Earth Europe celebrated the decision by the corporation and ensures that they will continue working until Monsanto, the US company that owns maize MON810, authorized in some European countries, leaves the region.

“It makes sense if you are a business and you can’t sell your product that you either have to give up or move your market somewhere else”, said Adrian Bebb to Real World Radio. “I don’t blame them (BASF Executives), they should have done this years ago. There is no market for GMOs in Europe", he added.

For Friends of the Earth Europe, BASF’s decision is also a victory for farmers, most of whom have rejected GMOs, and for the hundreds of communities free from these crops in the region. It is also a sign of the fact that resistance campaigns can have good results. “It’s quite clear that there is a very strong resistance here (to GMOs)”, said Bebb.

The move by the German company surprised Friends of the Earth Europe because the transnational corporation has carried out a strong lobby at the EU for several years to have GMOs authorized.

“We might have won the battle today, but we’ve not won the war yet”, said Bebb, who added that the struggle against GMOs continues, even more if we take into account that BASF has not abandoned their efforts in favor of this technology. The activist said: “Friends of the Earth will carry on supporting groups wherever they are in the world trying to stop the introduction of genetically modified crops, to actually support food sovereignty and the rights of people to decide their own food, and how their agriculture is and how their biodiversity is protected”. The British activist believes that this work won’t stop “until we’ve got a real transformation of our agriculture, and a landscape and nature suitable for our children and the future generations”.

Photo: ensartes.blogspot.com