International Egg Commission's economic analyst Peter van Horne presented a report at the IEC London 2009 conference which assessed the economic impact of the EU's strict requirements for approving the use of genetically modified crops.
Van Horne said if the EU's approval continued to be as slow and strict as it is now, the production chain for livestock farming would become increasingly dependent on imports with higher feed costs.
With increasing worldwide acceptance of GM crops, it will become difficult for the EU to continue to adopt a zero tolerance attitude toward non-approved GM varieties. The EU, van Horne said, needs to adopt an acceptable tolerance to allow non-improved varieties. He also suggested that the EU should decrease the time period to approve new GM varieties.
Europe is currently self-sufficient regarding maize, as shown in the study, but it imports soybean products from countries such as the U.S., Argentina and Brazil.
