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Careful monitoring of seed can ensure that it is “Gentechnik-frei”
Careful statutory seed monitoring can ensure that seed is “gentechnik-frei”. However, the control system can and should be further optimised because the case of the sweetcorn seed from a dealer in Lower Saxony that was contaminated with genetic engineering in the summer of 2020 came to light only through an inspection in Hungary. Up to now, sweetcorn seed has not yet been routinely tested in tests by the federal states. This should and could change, as Infodienst Gentechnik reports: the federal states are currently consulting on this.
The growers’ association Bioland is also demanding that for maize/corn and rapeseed/canola, for which there is an increased risk of contamination, all batches be inspected, instead of random sampling, as has been done until now. The organic and “Ohne Gentechnik” sector depend likewise on the reliably inspection and guarantee that the seed is “gentechnik-frei”.
For this reason, in future, testing for residues of new genetic engineering must also be done. In Canada and the US Ciba is already cultivating “Genome Editing” rapeseed, which under EU law is deemed to be genetically engineering and is not approved. In September 2020 VLOG, together with several partner organisations, presented the first open source detection method for this rapeseed/canola. The procedure is validated and ready for immediate use. The federal states should immediately integrate it into their testing procedures in order to ensure that this non-approved genetically engineered rapeseed/canola does not find its way into the EU.
LAG genetic engineering: Testing seed for genetically modified components for the 2020 analysis year
Infodienst Gentechnik: Seed – routine inspection for sweetcorn?
Bioland: Current seed assessment – One batch contaminated with genetic engineering
Corn/maize seed contaminated with genetic engineering sold and cultivated
First worldwide open source detection method developed for plants from new genetic engineering