| Until it is harvested, this field will be marked with a cross showing that it is GM (genetically modified). On 27 July 2006, Greenpeace activists carved out this marking, visible from the sky to protest against a decision in the French courts which forbade them to publish the location of fields of GM maize on their website: if it was no longer possible to show it on a map, it was still possible to do it on land. This symbolic action was intended to show that European law requires GM production to be transparent, and obliges communes to report the presence of GM crops within their boundaries. This cross is also a reminder that, according to an opinion poll carried out in 2006, more than 70% of the French would like to see a temporary ban on GM crops to allow time for an accurate assessment of their health and environmental impact as well as a referendum about GM regulations. In 2003/2004, the surface dedicated to growing GM crops had reached 20%, or 81 million hectares worldwide (the equivalent of two times the surface of the Netherlands). Today, 56% of the soya, 28% of the cotton, 19% of the rape and 14% of the maize produced worldwide is genetically modified.
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