Objection pursuant to Rule 115(2) and (3): genetically modified sugar beet KWS20-1

In this non-legislative resolution, Parliament objects, under Rule 115(2) and (3) of its Rules of Procedure, to the draft Commission implementing decision authorising the placing on the market of food, food ingredients and feed produced from genetically modified sugar beet KWS20-1 under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003. It notes that the sugar beet was developed to tolerate glyphosate-, dicamba- and glufosinate-ammonium-based herbicides, that EFSA's risk assessment did not include long-term toxicological studies or analysis of cumulative and combinatorial effects, and that field trials were conducted only in the United States. The resolution raises concerns about herbicide-tolerant crops increasing complementary herbicide use, questions surrounding the carcinogenicity of glyphosate, the volatility of dicamba and the classification of glufosinate as toxic to reproduction, and invokes the precautionary principle enshrined in Article 191 TFEU. It states that authorisation would not be consistent with international commitments on pesticide reduction.