News
2023-10-26 | permalink
The role of the precautionary principle in dealing with new and emerging gene technologies
New GMOs - Scientific knowledge, what do we know ? Regulation and risk assessment, where do we come from ? 26 Oct 2023 EU Parliament Brussels
University of Bergen: The role of the precautionary principle in dealing with new and emerging gene technologies2023-10-26 | permalink
Unmasking new GMOs protecting farmers and consumers’ right to transparency
BRIEFING ON THE RISKS OF EUROPEAN GMO LABEL DEREGULATION
The European Commission’s proposal to widely deregulate the new generation of Genetically Modified Organisms (new GMOs) - now called New Genomic Techniques or NGTs for political purposes - plans to take away farmers’, food processors’, retailers’ and consumers’ right to be informed whether the feed and food they buy contains new GMOs. The law proposal of the EU Commission is one that meets the demands of the agribusiness lobby rather than its citizens’ best interests. Studies show that, as long as consumers have the information whether their food contains GMOs or not, they prefer to choose conventional, organic or GMO-free options.1 This means that, if there is not a demand for GMO products, (many) farmers would not buy new GM seeds, limiting the European market and global pesticide corporations’ sales of these products.
2023-10-25 | permalink
GMOs: the Commission ignores its experts to reassure industry
Has the European Commission based its proposal to deregulate GMOs/NTGs on “ sound science ” or on the demands of seed companies? Documents obtained by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) show that the Commission chose to listen to the companies rather than its own experts at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The EFSA had indeed asked for an assessment - albeit a relatively light one - of the risks of “ new GMOs ”. However, the European Commission has proposed to abolish this requirement, as requested by certain companies.
Inf'OGM: GMOs: the Commission ignores its experts to reassure industry2023-10-25 | permalink
Genetic Technologies in Food and Farming – A Manifesto for the Next Government
Genetically engineered organisms in food and farming are regulated, first and foremost, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Whatever subsequent legislation has appeared over the years, this is their appropriate context.
In recent years the UK government has sought to recontextualise genetic technologies in the narrowest possible terms, as a science and innovation issue. The result was the 2023 Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act – a highly contested piece of legislation which removes all regulatory control from genetically modified gene-edited organisms in England and imposes them on the whole of the UK market, unlabelled, unmonitored and untraceable.
2023-10-19 | permalink
New GM plants: EU Commission has lost science and safety from sight
Press release 19 October 2023
The European Commission’s proposal to exempt most ‘new’ genetically modified (GM) plants from regulation lacks scientific basis, scientists of the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) point out. The proposal will expose citizens and the environment to potentially unsafe food, feed and plants without informing the citizens. It amounts to a shameful attack on the Precautionary Principle (PP). New GM plants must remain regulated by the existing EU legislation, which has proven to serve its purpose well.
