News
2024-01-30 | permalink
What are GMOs, and are they really changing because of new gene techniques? on Vimeo
Watch the recording of this educational webinar hosted by Soil & Health NZ on 23 January 2024, where we delve into the world of genetic engineering with Professor Jack Heinemann, an expert from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Canterbury.
The New Zealand government feels our biosafety rules are leaving NZ behind and believes GMOs are now safer than ever. Professor Heinemann is a genetic engineer with over 30 years of experience. He will share his knowledge of genetic engineering, focusing on the latest advancements. He’ll discuss what risks we should consider with any biotechnology and what makes the latest tools worthy of regulations.
Soil & Health New Zealand: What are GMOs, and are they really changing because of new gene techniques? on Vimeo2024-01-25 | permalink
New GMOs: after the vote of the ENVI committee, the European Parliament must oppose the deregulation proposal
This Wednesday, January 24, the ENVI committee of the European Parliament voted in favor of a proposal to deregulate new GMOs. 13 organizations are planning an action in Strasbourg to call on MEPs to reject the text during the plenary debate scheduled for February 6.
The ENVI Commission of the European Parliament has just adopted the text from rapporteur Jessica Polfjärd on plants obtained using new genomic techniques (NTG). Will this version of the regulation, although widely criticized for its lack of scientific basis, notably by Anses in December (1), also lead to a total deregulation of these new GMOs, weakening French agriculture and denying the rights of consumers.
2024-01-24 | permalink
Plenary vote on NGTs: call for postponement after ENVI vote
BRUSSELS, 24 JANUARY 2024 –
Today, the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI Committee) voted on the legislative proposal on so-called “New Genomic Techniques” (NGTs) but many unresolved issues loom large.
“This rushed legislative process to deregulate NGTs goes against the interest of European breeders, farmers and citizens. Today’s vote by MEPs in the Environment committee leaves too many issues about risks, patents and the right of farmers and consumers to avoid NGTs, unsolved. Instead of rushing into a plenary vote, MEPs should properly discuss how to protect farmers, consumers and the environment from risks associated to NGTs”, said Jan Plagge, president of IFOAM Organics Europe, after the vote.
2024-01-24 | permalink
MEP backing for GMO deregulation threatens rights of farmers
Brussels – The European Commission proposal on new GMOs, and amendments supported today by the European Parliament’s environment committee, risk violating the rights of farmers and consumers, according to new legal analysis by Greenpeace.
The proposed law does not provide sufficient protection against the contamination of crops with new GMOs, which are obtained through so-called new genomic techniques (NGTs).
Greenpeace EU GMO campaigner Eva Corral said: “Decades of progress in the EU on farmers’ rights, and protecting people’s health and the environment, should not be scrapped for the sake of biotech industry profits. Safety measures do not hinder innovation, nor do current rules that apply to GMOs. EU law does not prohibit research and development: it aims to ensure that what is developed does not breach EU citizens’ rights to health and environmental protection.”
2024-01-10 | permalink
French food safety agency ANSES demolishes Commission's assumptions of "equivalence" for GM plants
ANSES says there is "no scientific basis" for Commission's proposal to remove regulatory safeguards from new GMOs. Report: Claire Robinson
The French government's food safety agency ANSES has demolished the European Commission’s proposal for a definition of a class of new GM plants (so-called Category I NGT plants) that would be exempted from risk assessment, traceability and labelling because of their supposed “equivalence… to conventional plants”.
