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BASF Sues EU Commission Over Delays in GM potato Approval

(July 24, 2008/Thomson Financial) -- BASF SE. said it is taking the European Commission to the EU Court of Justice, accusing it of delaying the approval process of its genetically modified potato Amflora even though the bloc's food safety watchdog has deemed it safe.

The company has filed a lawsuit with the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg on Thursday over the failure to act in the procedure by the Commission, BASF said in a statement.

"We are not prepared to accept any more delays," said Stefan Marcinowski, BASF executive board member in charge of pesticides and plant science.

The German chemical maker has been awaiting European Commission clearance for the commercial cultivation of Amflora, which contains a special starch for industrial use, since July 2007, even though the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has said the product is as safe as a conventional potato.

"We expect a decision in our favour," said Hans Kast, head of BASF's plant science unit, declining to say when BASF expects the court to decide.

While Amflora was modified to produce a certain starch that is useful for paper, textile and glue production, it also features a gene that makes it resistant to antibiotics as a result of the plant's development process.

Food safety and environmental activists argue that the gene could find its way into harmful bacteria.

BASF has said that such a gene transfer is 'extremely' unlikely and that the gene already exists in many other organisms.

If approved, BASF expects annual license revenues of up to 30 million euros from the product and the added value to all companies involved -- including BASF, farmers, paper mills, textile companies and glue makers -- will exceed 100 million euros per year, Kast said.

Recent 'positive signals' from Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that the EU is willing to base its decision on scientific methods have failed to allay the company's concerns over the delays, according to the statement.