According to data recently released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA) in 2013 has been grown in Spain an area of GM maize MON810 136 962 hectares . However, this figure is not reliable but merely an estimate, based on sales data provided by the suppliers of these seeds, which has nothing to do with the actual number of transgenic acreage. The Government itself has admitted that it do any checking of the data that provides the industry, another example of collusion with business. therefore, Friends of the Earth, Confederation of Consumers and Users (CECU), Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG) Ecologists in Action, Greenpeace GE Free Andalucia Platform (PALT), Platform Bed, Red Seed and Spanish Society of Organic Agriculture (EEAS) MAGRAMA believe that citizenship is hiding data.
On the other hand, in late October the Foreign Agricultural Service of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published a report through the Global Agricultural Information Network which analyzes the commitment GM crops in Spain and Portugal, which also echoes this estimated figure. Organizations like Greenpeace PALT and have demonstrated, through data provided by the autonomous communities themselves, there are significant differences of more than 70% between the estimated by the MAGRAMA and information provided by the regional administrations, as in the case of Andalusia and Catalonia.
This year, Greenpeace consulted the 17 autonomous communities and requested through the Aarhus Convention and the Law 27/2006 environmental information on the cultivation of maize for the years 2010-2011-2012 and 2013 in accordance with the declared by farmers in the application CAP only. Only Andalusia and Catalonia have answered with data from 2013, noting deviations ranging from 30 to 70% less, so a comparison was made for the last two years. On the other hand it should be noted that the vast majority of AA did not respond to a request for environmental information led by Greenpeace, which is a clear breach of the Aarhus Convention and the Law 27/2006 governing access to information environment.
It is also noted that regions such as Galicia, which do not appear in the estimates ofMAGRAMA, cultivate GM declares the last two years, or who claims to have grown transgenic Cantabria in 2011 contradicts the zero hectares estimated by the Ministry, showing also that conceal reality estimates ( see summary table ).
The information provided by the autonomous communities data comes from farmers in the single application of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is mandatory for the applicant to indicate whether the variety planted is genetically modified or not agricultural plots exploitation.
The Ministry should provide actual data of transgenic corn acreage, which would be relatively "easy" and more consistent across the statements of CAP subsidies.
The lack of transparency and control, despite legal requirements that the government should fulfill, is one of the reasons why GM industry can wander free in Spanish territory, and has led various organizations to bring two actions in regarding public records.
Once again, the data MAGRAMA still inflating GM maize grown in Spain , so from the undersigned organizations demand the MAGRAMA and autonomous own immediate clarification transgenic data in Spain from reality and not in estimates based on information provided by the companies concerned.
ECO agricultor
