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German insurance industry refuses to cover biotech crops
(Monday, July 5, 2004 -- CropChoice news) -- AFP: Berlin – The refusal of German insurers to underwrite insurance for
farmers planting biotech seed may have brought Green Biotechnology in
Germany to an end. As the newspaper Tagesspiegel reports, seed suppliers are
not willing to assume liability for possible damages caused by genetically
modified plants either. A proposal in this direction by the German Farmers’ Association was turned
down by Germany’s largest seed supplier KWS Saat. According to opinions in
the industry, this means that no German farmer is likely to use genetically
modified seed in the foreseeable future. Fearing unpredictable damages resulting from the contamination of
conventional or organic crops by gene plants, the Association of the German
Insurance Industry has refused coverage for gene farmers. As a consequence, the German Farmers’ Association has demanded that
suppliers of genetically modified seed assume liability for possible damages
and keep farmers free of it. Since cross-contamination cannot be avoided,
“we will not run a risk”, says KWS Saat spokesman Georg Folttmann. In light
of the stringent liability regulations in Germany “nobody will plant
genetically modified plants in Germany”. | |
