Parliament calls to block renewal of GM soybean MON 87708

EP Position

The Parliament considers that the draft Commission implementing decision exceeds the Commission’s implementing powers and is not consistent with Union law. It calls on the Commission to withdraw the draft, not to renew the authorisation for MON 87708 and to submit, without delay, a legislative proposal to reform the GMO decision-making procedure.

Key Trade Point

Parliament noted that EFSA issued a favourable opinion but did not sufficiently address cumulative and combinatorial effects, indirect health risks or long-term ecological consequences of large-scale dicamba use. It emphasised that MON 87708’s dicamba tolerance has been associated with off-field drift, damage to neighbouring crops and ecosystems and socio-economic concerns in exporting countries, and questioned monitoring that relies on general surveillance and the implications for the effective functioning of the internal market.

What Comes Next

The resolution instructs Parliament’s President to forward the text to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and calls on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal to reform the decision-making procedure on GMOs.