News
2023-11-14 | permalink
New Genomic Techniques – time for the European Parliament to stand up for its citizens
Negotiations are in full swing on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on New GMOs (New Genomic Techniques). With the Commission proposing a full deregulation of this type of gene editing, should the proposal become law, it would unleash untested and unlabeled GMOs onto European fields, into the supermarkets and on to people’s plates – GMOs that European citizens do not want in their food.
ENGA: New Genomic Techniques – time for the European Parliament to stand up for its citizens2023-11-09 | permalink
UN hunger expert: US must recognize ‘right to food’ to fix broken system
Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food.
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He cites the example of genetically modified organisms, which supporters say allows farmers to have predictable crops. Fakhri said they create homogeneity, creating field after field of the same type of plants, which makes them more vulnerable to pests and factors exacerbated by the climate crisis.
“To have this degree of homogeneity is really quite dangerous,” Fakhri said. “It’s bad for the environment and bad for the future of resilient plants.” In addition to damaging the environment, corporations have been falsely attributing price increases to various crises to hide their profiteering, according to the report.
2023-11-08 | permalink
Expert Panel Commissioned by Health Canada Urges Caution on Gene-Edited Insects for Pest Control
Environmental groups call for a ban on releasing GMOs into the wild
Halifax, Ottawa, Sutton, November 8, 2023 – Today, the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) released an Expert Panel report commissioned by the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada on the regulation of genetically engineering (genetically modified or GM) insects for pest control. The report focuses on the question of releasing gene-edited insects and “gene drive” organisms in particular, designed for release into the environment with the purpose of replacing or changing whole insect populations in the wild. The Expert Panel concludes that the complexity and uncertainties of using such genetically engineered insects (genetically modified organisms or GMOs) raise profound questions and require serious attention from the federal government.
2023-11-06 | permalink
NEW GENETIC ENGINEERING: WHERE DO THE EU REPRESENTATIVES STAND?
We asked the Austrian EU representatives: What do politicians think about the labeling requirement, risk assessment and tracing of new genetic engineering?
On November 7th, the Environment Committee of the EU Parliament will discuss the proposed law to deregulate New Genetic Engineering (NGT). The EU Commission is planning far-reaching deregulation of the majority of plants to which NGT methods have been used.
“If the Commission has its way, risk assessment, labeling, freedom of choice, traceability and the possibility of national cultivation restrictions should no longer apply in the future”
BRIGITTE REISENBERGER, GLOBAL 2000 GENETIC ENGINEERING SPOKESPERSON
2023-11-03 | permalink
Protection action filed by the Cañamomo-Lomaprieta Indigenous Reservation and others, against the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and others
Five indigenous reservations from Cauca, Tolima, Huila and Caldas, with the support of the Alliance for Agrobiodiversity, filed a protection for the advance of transgenic contamination of native and native corn in indigenous territories. In a court ruling known on November 2, the Constitutional Court agreed with the plaintiffs and ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to take action to protect native and creole seeds.
