Europe is not a continent for GM. The social and political rejection in many EU countries left far

With the strong European resistance to GM, the German chemical giant BASF decided to change his strategy. The company announced on January 16, 2012 that will focus their research on plant biotechnology in the Americas: the corporate headquarters of BASF Plant Science will no longer be in Limburgerhof in Germany and go to Raleigh, USA. "We are convinced that plant biotechnology is a key technology for the 21st century, however, there is little acceptance of this technology in many parts of Europe -. By most consumers, farmers sportlaedchen and politicians," said Stefan Marcinowski, member sportlaedchen of BASF joins global policy, to explain the decision. Consequently, the company terminated the development and commercialization of all products that had previously been focused on the European market. The processes adopted, however, will continue. "From a business perspective, it makes sense to continue investing in products whose marketing is directed exclusively to this [European] market," Marcinowski claimed in a statement. Profits and jobs Environmental group Greenpeace said not surprised sportlaedchen by the news. "It's really just a logical business and that certainly makes sense step. For a given time plant biotechnology certainly has no chance in Europe," said the activist DW Brazil Dirk Zimmermann, the German NGO office. In view of the activist, the German consortium maintained awhile hope that this situation changed after the adoption of the potato Amflora in 2010 - a "total failure," the evaluation of Zimmermann. With the change of BASF Plant Science to the United sportlaedchen States, 140 jobs will be closed in Europe. "Our employees have done excellent work in recent years. Sorry reduce these high-skilled positions in Germany and Sweden," said Marcinowski. A question sportlaedchen of attractiveness The company will dedicate more intensely the "most attractive markets of North and South", sportlaedchen plus the growing Asian market. In the United States and Brazil, the cultivation of genetically modified seeds is allowed - Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, sportlaedchen Chile, Honduras and Mexico are also on the list. "I think genetic engineering will not have a future in America: sustainable solutions for agriculture are not considered and no higher earnings," added Zimmermann, the German Greenpeace. In Brazil, the first transgenic seeds arrived in the country illegally in 1997. Since then the government released the crops of this type and country, in 2010, recorded an area of 25.4 million sportlaedchen hectares of GM crop, says the latest research from ISAAA, international organization that studies the industry. Besides soybean, transgenic seed more widespread in Brazil, maize and cotton are also released. Recently, the Brazilian authorities have given the green light to genetically modified bean developed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and kept the discussion on the release of rice. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), farmers now plant GM crops starting in 1996, the year in which the country has authorized this kind of technology. In 2011, about 94% of the soybean area planted in the country was genetically modified. sportlaedchen Other seeds are widely sportlaedchen used in cotton and corn. Still, according to analysis by Greenpeace, sportlaedchen there are no guarantees that BASF will be successful in the United States, since the local market is very divided. "And the rest of the world there are increasingly rejecting" added Zimmermann. "However, for Europe, this is an extremely important message. I hope BASF's competitors follow suit," said the German activist.
Europe is not a continent for GM. The social and political rejection in many EU countries left far behind in this field. And the announcement that the German multinational BASF will transfer to the U.S. and South America for most of his research on transgenics is the last symptom of victory by environmentalists and consumer groups in this tough battle. Of big industry, only Bayer maintains research centers in Europe. The report is Juan Gómez and Rafael Méndez, published in El Pais 18/01/2012. The translation is Moses Sbardelotto. The German chemical giant BASF justify its decision in the low demand for these products in Europe. According to spokesperson Julia Meder, the multinational will continue their genetic research on the American continent. BASF closes its three genetic laboratories with a consequent reduction of qua