Amflora

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Amflora variety potatoes

Amflora (official name EH92-527-1, at EU level BPS-25271-9) is a potato variety genetically modified by BASF Plant Science , which was developed as a renewable raw material for the potato starch industry. BASF Plant-Science is a subsidiary of the German chemical company BASF .

The cultivation approval for Amflora in the EU in 2010 was the first approval granted here for genetically modified plants since 1998. Following a lawsuit by Hungary, the approval was declared null and void by the General Court of the European Union (EGC) in December 2013 .

history

In 1996 an application for approval of Amflora for cultivation was submitted for the first time. In 2010, the cultivation and use of residues obtained from starch processing were approved.

There were public discussions because Amflora contains a naturally widespread antibiotic resistance gene as a marker . This gives the plant a growth advantage in the development stage in the presence of the antibiotics kanamycin or neomycin compared to plants that do not carry this marker. According to the EU Release Directive, commercial genetically modified plants are not allowed to contain medically important resistance genes to antibiotics. The EU Commission therefore decided in March 2007 to request an expert opinion on the risks of antibiotic resistance from the European Medicines Agency .

On the basis of these reports, which come to the conclusion, among other things, that a transfer of the resistance gene from transgenic plants to bacteria is very unlikely, the nptII gene is already widespread in nature and a large part of the bacteria, for example in the intestine or are found in the environment, are already resistant to kanamycin and neomycin, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed in April 2007 that Amflora is harmless to “humans, animals and the environment”.

On July 16, 2007, EU Environment Commissioner Dimas declared that the EU Commission wants to approve Amflora for industrial use. The EU agriculture ministers could not agree on approval beforehand. Since approval for Amflora had already been applied for in 1996, BASF brought an action at the European Court of Justice against the EU Commission in 2008 because of the slow approval process for Amflora.

In 2009, EFSA published another scientific opinion on the nptII gene, which is present in Amflora and other genetically modified products. EFSA had already assessed the use of the gene several times in the past and once again confirmed that the said gene was safe and that no further scientific studies were necessary.

On March 2, 2010, the EU Commission approved the cultivation of Amflora for industrial purposes and for feeding. Austria banned the cultivation of Amflora on March 28, 2010, Luxembourg on June 16, 2010. The CDU / CSU parliamentary group welcomed the EU's decision.

In 2010, the potato was grown for seed propagation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on 15 hectares and in Sweden on 80 hectares, in the Czech Republic for commercial purposes on 150 hectares.

On the approximately 15-hectare German site in Zepkow ( Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ), some plants were destroyed by opponents in July 2010. In the night of July 7th to 8th, 2010 about one hectare and on July 29th, 20 to 30 more plants were destroyed.

Public start of the potato harvest in August 2010

In August 2010, the German Federal Minister of Economics, Rainer Brüderle, came to Zepkow for the start of the potato harvest; he said that biotechnology was important for Germany's competitiveness. The BASF subsidiary Plant Science wants to use the harvested potatoes as seeds; it would be sufficient for an area 10 to 15 times as large as that of the cultivation.

According to the Financial Times Deutschland, the targeted annual turnover is between 20 and 30 million euros.

After it became known on September 6, 2010 that in addition to Amflora a new and not yet approved potato (Amadea) had grown on the cultivation area in Sweden, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Agriculture and Environment Minister Till Backhaus prohibited the cultivating company on September 7 until further notice to put the potatoes grown in Zepkow on the market. According to the company, the mixing in the field in Sweden was less than 0.01 percent. Backhaus' ministry stated that both the already harvested potatoes and those still in the ground would be confiscated until the project operator BASF can refute the suspicion of contamination of the Zepkow potatoes. The harvest continued on September 29, 2010, the potatoes were put into storage.

Concerning the mixing of the varieties in the Swedish field on September 28, 2010, BASF stated as a result of an investigation “that the mixing could occur in northern Sweden because Amadea and Amflora potatoes were temporarily grown in the same rooms and there was one There was confusion. “The potatoes grown in Germany and the Czech Republic would have been grown separately.

Up until September 2010, Hungary , Luxembourg and Austria filed suits against the decision of the EU Commission to permit cultivation at the European Court of Justice , because the assessment of the environmental risks of the genetically modified organism was inadequate or incorrectly carried out.

At the beginning of 2011, BASF announced that it would grow the Amflora potato on a two-hectare field in Üplingen ( Saxony-Anhalt ).

Due to the lack of acceptance in Europe, BASF decided in January 2012 to relocate the headquarters for green genetic engineering to the USA and to terminate the Amflora project.

In December 2013, the European Court of Justice ruled in favor of the plaintiffs against the approval and revoked it due to procedural errors in the approval process. The EU Commission did not give the responsible committee of the EU states the opportunity to comment on the revised EFSA opinion, according to the judges of the GC.

application

By applying the principle of RNA interference , no amylose is produced.

Due to a genetic modification , the newly developed potato variety forms a starch that consists entirely of amylopectin . This enables an optimized material use for the production of paper, textiles or glue. In the case of conventional starch without genetic engineering, the second starch polymer, amylose , has to be removed, which is time-consuming .

After approval, Amflora should be grown in Europe, as 80% of global potato starch production takes place here. The most important countries for the cultivation and processing of potato starch are Germany, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Poland and Sweden. The advantages of the Amflora potato should lie in the additional value it creates for farmers and the starch industry. According to estimates, it should amount to more than 100 million euros per year. This estimate was based on considerations that the use of Amflora - for example in the manufacture of paper - could save energy, water and raw materials.

Amflora, which has been optimized for starch formation, is edible, but due to its high starch content it is so floury that it is not suitable for consumption. However, according to several reports by ESFA, it is assessed as harmless for human and animal consumption.

Although the genetically modified Amflora potato was approved, large starch manufacturers refuse to cultivate it. The background to this is the fear of losing business customers. The acceptance of green genetic engineering is not sufficient.

See also

Web links

Commons : Amflora  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.transgen.de: “Amflora potato: Approval after thirteen years”, March 11, 2010 ( Memento of the original from August 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.transgen.de
  2. ↑ a b [1] BASF product: EU judges declare approval of genetically modified potatoes Amflora to be void at spiegel.de, accessed on December 13, 2013
  3. ↑ amflora.de: The antibiotic resistance gene dialogue platform Amflora ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / amflora.de
  4. ↑ Politics - EFSA gives the green light for starch potatoes Amflora Biotechnology - Industry ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.biotechnologie.de
  5. ^ Opinion of the scientific panel on GMOs on an application for placing on the market for the manufacture of starch and food: EFSA Scientific Opinion: Opinion of the Scientific Panel on genetically modified organisms GMO on an application (Reference EFSA-GMO-UK-2005-14) for the placing on the market of genetically modified potato EH92-527-1 with altered starch composition, for production of starch and food / feed uses, under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 from BASF plant science 1 ( Memento des Originals vom 15. May 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.efsa.europa.eu
  6. ↑ BASF - press releases: (PDF; 49 kB)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.basf.com  
  7. ↑ Transgene - New EFSA statement: BASF is now demanding approval of the Amflora potato ( memento of the original from June 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.transgen.de
  8. ↑ European Commission: 2010/136 /: Commission decision of March 2, 2010 on the approval of the placing on the market of feed made from the genetically modified potato variety EH92-527-1 (BPS-25271-9), and the accidental or The technically unavoidable presence of this potato variety in food and feed according to Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
  9. ↑ BMG : Stöger prohibits the cultivation of the GM potato "Amflora" April 1, 2010, accessed on August 13, 2012.
  10. ↑ GM potatoes are not coming to Luxembourg! ( Memento of the original of June 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Luxembourg word @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wort.lu
  11. ↑ Union parliamentary group welcomes Amflora approval . In: CDU / CSU parliamentary group .
  12. ↑ transGEN: genetic engineering: cultivation of the Amflora potato in 2011 only on a few hectares, February 1, 2011, accessed on January 13, 2013 ( memento of the original from November 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.transgen.de
  13. ↑ Taking a stand against genetic engineering. In: neue-deutschland.de. Retrieved August 1, 2010 .
  14. ↑ Gene potato in focus. In: taz.de. Retrieved August 1, 2010 .
  15. ↑ Protest against genetically modified potatoes Amflora. In: taz.de. Retrieved August 1, 2010 .
  16. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg, Germany: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: The GM potato harvest has begun . In: SPIEGEL ONLINE . August 31, 2010.
  17. ↑ www.ftd.de: “Potato pan brings BASF into trouble”, September 9, 2010 ( Memento from September 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ^ Frankfurter Rundschau: GM potatoes: Mecklenberg-Vorpommern stops Amflora . In: fr-online.de .
  19. ↑ Ralph Sommer: At the start of the harvest: stocks of the GM potato Amflora confiscated - DIE WELT . In: THE WORLD . September 7, 2010.
  20. ↑ amflora.basf.com: "Cause of the mixing of starch potatoes cleared up", September 28, 2010 ( memento of the original from October 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / amflora.basf.com
  21. ↑ Other EU countries are suing Amflora . In: top agrar online .
  22. ^ BASF - 404 Error Page . In: BASF .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.basf.com  
  23. ↑ Chemistry: BASF mashes the Amflora genetically modified potato . In: wiwo.de .
  24. ↑ http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2013-12/cp130160de.pdf
  25. ↑ SeedQuest - Central information website for the global seed industry . In: seedquest.com .
  26. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg, Germany: Amflora boycott: Starch manufacturers defend themselves against the genetically modified potatoes . In: SPIEGEL ONLINE . March 3, 2010.