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International Green Week 2026: "Non-GMO" is a hot topic
These two factors in particular ensured that "Non-GMO“ was even more of a talking point at the 2026 trade fair than in previous years. On the opening day of the International Green Week, VLOG, together with Bioland, Alnatura and dennree, held a joint panel debate highlighting the challenges of the upcoming EU deregulation for "Non-GMO" and organic products and called on MEPs and the Council of Ministers not to approve the current proposal.
Organic reception: "New genetic engineering“ was a topic in all speeches
At the traditional organic reception on the opening evening of the International Green Week, all speakers, from German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) to German State Secretary for Agriculture Markus Schick (CSU) to Ophelia Nick, Member of the German Parliament (Greens), addressed the ongoing EU deregulation of new genetic engineering (NGT).
Minister Rainer speaks at length, but contradictorily, about NGT
On the same day, German Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer (CSU) also spoke publicly in more detail than ever before about NGT in an interview, albeit in a rather contradictory manner. On the one hand, he believes that NGT does not belong to "classical green genetic engineering", but on the other hand, he says he would still have liked to have achieved "business-to-business" labelling for NGT in the trilogue and wants organic farming to continue to be able to operate "completely GMO-free".
Do you know what you're eating? "Non-GMO“ on large billboards
"Non-GMO“ and the VLOG seal were clearly visible to all tradeshow visitors at the International Green Week on large billboards at all fairground entrances, the surrounding commuter railway and underground stations and at the Berlin Central Station. They showed four different eye-catching motifs of distorted food in the form of a question mark with the wording "Do you know what you're eating?" and referred to the gentechnikfrei.de website where the seal is briefly explained and shopping opportunities for products showing the seal are listed. Postcards with the motifs were distributed at the International Green Week and various accompanying events.
Political background talks on the future of "Non-GMO"
As we have done for many years, VLOG also used the International Green Week 2026 to hold a series of background debates with relevant German politicians and stakeholders, including Lower Saxony's Minister of Agriculture Miriam Staudte (Greens), State Secretaries Jochen Flasbarth and Carsten Träger (both SPD) from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Sabine Kurtz (CDU), State Secretary for Agriculture in Baden-Württemberg, the Chairman of the Bundestag Agriculture Committee Herrmann Färber (CDU), the Working Group on Food and Agriculture of the SPD Bundestag parliamentary group, Member of the European Parliament Martin Häusling (Greens), Bavarian State Parliament Member Laura Weber and Saxony State Parliament Member Wolfram Günther (both Greens), as well as the Vice-Presidents of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN, Thomas Graner) and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR, Tewes Tralau).
The particular relevance of "Non-GMO" was also evident in the individual talks this year. The focus was mostly on the upcoming NGT deregulation and the question of how the industry can and will deal with it.
Shortly before the International Green Week, Greenpeace published a comprehensive GMO supermarket check with a focus on NGT, and VLOG, together with numerous other associations and organisations from various sectors, issued a joint resolution calling on politicians to maintain the GMO labelling requirement.
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