News
New petition against dilution of GMO regulations
Using the motto "Not behind our backs: No free pass for new GMOs in our food!", the petition demands that the existing regulation should also be kept for new GMOs. In particular, the German Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, and the Minister of the Environment, Steffi Lemke, are called upon to stand up for the regulation. Specifically, the text of the petition demands that mandatory labelling should be maintained for all types of GMOs. Risk assessment, traceability and detection methods should remain approval prerequisites for all genetically engineered plants.
Broad support from the organic sector
The petition is supported and distributed by various associations from AbL, BÖLW and Bioland to Save Our Seeds and Slowfood. For the organic sector, which also operates without genetic engineering, it is essential, just like for "Ohne Gentechnik" [Non GMO], that genetic engineering remains clearly recognisable in the future.
Strong GMO rules are not a foregone conclusion in Europe either.
Strong regulations on genetic engineering are not an automatism even in Europe, which is traditionally critical of genetic engineering. Thisbecomes evident from the EU Commission’s recently launched public consultation in the ongoing legislative project for a possible amendment of the rules on genetic engineering in Europe. Many of the questions are obviously biased or provide only a limited number of possible answers by multiple choice.
Petition and consultation mutually complement each other
The EU consultation, too, is open for participation by everyone. Despite, or even because of, its one-sided wording, it is important that the Commission also receives as much well-founded feedback as possible through this official channel. The EU consultation and the online petition can therefore complement each other very well in order to emphasize to the EU Commission and the national governments of the Member States how important clear GMO regulations are for consumers and the booming organic and "Ohne Gentechnik" [Non-GMO] sectors.
Online petition "Not behind our backs - No free pass for new GMOs in our food" [in German]
Organic sector supports petition for freedom of choice and GMO regulation [in German]
Informationsdienst Gentechnik: Europe-wide petition for strict GMO legislation launched [in German]
Biased questions: EU consultation launched on new genetic engineering