Belgium
Click on the map to enlarge it or dowload the kmz file to view it in Google Earth.
Updates + Overviews
124 communities (yellow spots on the map) and the Wallonian Region (green on the map) have declared themselves GMO-free.
Benoît LUTGEN, Wallonian Minister of Agriculture, calls all the communes to declare themselves GMO-free (April 2009) (French)
Wallonia joins the network of GMO-Free regional governments (October 2008) (French)
Wallonia rules against GMOs (October 2008) (French)
In June 2008, Wallonia voted a decree on the coexistence of genetically modified crops, conventional crops and organic crops. Thanks to this decree, GMO cultivation is not possible in Wallonia. Press-release: The Walloon Decree for the co-existence of plant cultures has been voted in, by Nature & Progrès
Organisations and Institutions Active on GMOs
VELT (Flemish)
Wervel (Flemish)
Greenpeace (French)
Le CAGE - Collectif d'Action GenEthique
Terre Sacree - SOS Planete (French)
Nature et Progrès Belgique (French)
Inf’OGM
Bioforum Vlaandern (Flemish)
ggo-vrij GMO news in Flemish
Presentations
Lucern, April 2009
Jean-Luc Servais
Presentation: Respect of Life & Free Choice for Everybody, GMO-Free Wallonia (pdf, 1,4 MB, English)
Official and Institutional Links
National Institutions
Belgian Biosafety Server (French, Flemish, English)
Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, Food Chain Security and Environment
Belgian Biosafety Advisory Council
Belgian Biosafety Clearing-House
Scientific Institute of Public Health
Regional Institutions
Walloon Region: Ministère de la Région Wallonne, Direction Générale des Ressources Naturelles et de l'Environnement (DGRNE), Division de la Prévention et des Autorisations
Flemish Region: Vlaamse Minister van Leefmilieu, Departement Leefmilieu en Infrastructuur, Administratie Milieu-, Natuur-, Land- en Waterbeheer (AMINAL)
Brussels Region: Brussels Institute for Management on the Environment (IBGE-BIM)
Legal Documents
National
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tris/pisa/app/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=pisa_notif_overview&iYear=2008&inum=5&lang=EN&sNLang=ENDeliberate release of GMOs in the environment: Regulatory framework
Regulatory framework for the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Regional
Final Decree of the Walloon Parliament, Integral report, public meeting (June 11, 2008), Discussion and Votes on the coexistence of GM, conventional and organic crops. (French)
Contained use of GMOs and pathogens: Flemish region Walloon region Brussels region
Final Decree on the coexistence of genetically modified crops, conventional crops and organic crops in Flanders April 2009 (Dutch)
Other Background Information
Press Releases from Nature & Progrès (2008): Coexistence decree: a model for Europe and Wallonia signs Florence charter, what does it mean? (French)
EU Commission, DG Sanco: Report on an evaluation of the Belgian GMO controls (Feb 2006)
Communiqué de presse: En Wallonie, les ogm pourront-ils se payer une pollution? (Nov 2005)
20 regions d’Europe refusent les OGM ! Et si la Wallonie et Bruxelles etaient les 21e et 22e ?
Nature & Progrès Belgique demande les Régions Wallonne et Bruxelloise ratifient la Charte de Florence et revendiquent ainsi le droit de se protéger de la contamination transgénique, Feb 2005
GMO-free Flanders, presentation at World Social Forum, 2003
For a list of these communities in Belgium and for more info read Velt's dossier on GMOs (Flemish)
US Department of Agriculture: Annual Agricultural Biotech Report
