BASF moves GM crops division to the US

[Dead_Parrot]

The German chemical giant BASF is moving its transgenic plant operations from Europe to the United States, it says, because of widespread opposition to the technology.

The company announced on 16 January that it would move its plant-science headquarters from Limburgerhof, Germany, to Raleigh, North Carolina, and that it would no longer develop plants solely for cultivation in Europe. The division employs 157 people in Limburgerhof, plus another 63 at facilities elsewhere in Europe. BASF said that it would relocate 123 of those jobs to the North Carolina facility.

In statement, Stefan Marcinowski, a member of the BASF board of executive directors, cited “a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe — from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians.” The company instead plans to focus on plant biotechnology markets in the Americas and Asia.
...

Only one other genetically modified (GM) crop, a breed of maize (corn) developed by Monsanto that produces the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insect toxin, is approved for cultivation in Europe. However, Monsanto has long stopped developing GM crops to grow in Europe, and BASF had been the only company still pursuing approval on the continent, says Jonathan Jones, a project leader at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, UK.

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/01/basf-abandons-gm-crop-market-in-europe.html

[diane in sf]

1. We don't want GM food either.

[Nihil]

2. You might not but your politicians think you do ...

That's why your food & agricultural "regulators" are so lax about everything
and it is exactly why you are such a market for exploitation by the mega-corps.

Who needs democracy when you have bribery?