On 23 January 2006, the Austrian Government’s decided to ban Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape, GT73.

The Austrian decision is based on the risk of genetic contamination, and the inadequate risk assessment carried out prior to the EU Commission authorizing the oilseed rape in August 2005. This authorisation came despite a majority of EU Environment Ministers blocking the authorisation of the oilseed rape in December 2004 for environmental and health reasons.

GMOs are now banned in seven European countries (France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Luxembourg and Greece), while the number of EU regions banning GMOs is also growing:
 172 Regions in the European Union and 4500 local authorities and other zones have now declared themselves GMO free and are calling for the right of Regions to decide whether or not to grow GMOs.
 In June 2005, the EU Commission was defeated by Member States when it tried to force them to drop national GMO bans.

 For more information, please vistit the GMO-free Europe website.