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EU MPs: Promote genetic engineering detection and risk research!

02/10/2022 - 31 delegates from five political groups in the European Parliament have called on the EU Commission in an open letter to promote risk and detection research for new genetic engineering processes.

271 million euros for genetic engineering vs. 0 euros for detection and risk research

So far, the EU has not supported any research in this area. Research into such genetic engineering processes proper and public relations work in their favor, on the other hand, have yielded a whopping 271 million euros in funding over the past four years. The situation in the Member States is not much better: They allocated only 1.6 percent of their research funds for new genetic engineering to the areas of risk assessment and detection methods.

EU Commission in pro genetic engineering imbalance

VLOG managing director Alexander Hissting welcomes the initiative of the EU MPs: "It is about time that the EU finally becomes active in this regard. The 'Ohne Gentechnik' [Non-GMO] sector is urgently dependent on detection methods for plants from new genetic engineering, so that market players can continue to guarantee GMO-free food and feed. It is incomprehensible and irresponsible that hundreds of millions of euros are being spent on research into genetic engineering processes, but not a single cent on detection and risk research. Together with the proposed deregulation, the EU Commission is thus in a very biased pro genetic engineering imbalance."

Promising German Traffic Light coalition agreement must be implemented quickly

Hissting also counts on the new German government in this regard: "We are very pleased that the German Traffic Light coalition government has explicitly written this task into its coalition agreement. The 'Ohne Gentechnik' sector now counts on Cem Özdemir and Steffi Lemke, with their Ministries for Agriculture and the Environment, to quickly and decisively tackle the development of detection methods for new genetic engineering that has been delayed so far. Together with several partners, VLOG has taken the first step. The open source method already presented in 2020 should urgently be developed further and used in regulatory controls instead of being further blocked."

Open letter of the 31 MEPs to the EU Commission

Press release Martin Häusling MEP: New genetic engineering: invest more research on risks and detection! (in German)

Background: EU research on risks and detection methods related to new GM plants