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No GMO in seed samples in 2023 – future uncertain
Graphic: Federal/State Working Group on Genetic Engineering (LAG)
On 11 January 2024, the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) published the results of the Federal/State Working Group on Genetic Engineering. The official seed monitoring centres of the German Länder examined a total of 818 seed samples from 11 different crops for the analysis year 2023 (1 October 2022 - 30 September 2023). Primarily maize (61%) and rapeseed (28%) were analysed for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as soy (5%) and small samples of sugar beet, mustard, tomato, courgette, beetroot and flaxseed. As in the previous year, no GMOs were detected in any of the seed batches analysed. The last time GMO contamination was found in imported maize was in 2021.
Absence of genetic engineering at risk - appeal to politicians
The fact that the GMO-free results for seeds have been stable for years is due to the strict EU genetic engineering regulation and the fact that no GMO seeds are planted in Germany and other EU countries. However, this could soon change fundamentally with the planned deregulation of genetic engineering regulation. According to proposals by the EU Commission and numerous members of the conservative EPP group in the European Parliament, plants from newer genetic engineering methods such as CRISPR should no longer be labelled.
Alexander Hissting, Managing Director of the Association Food without Genetic Engineering (VLOG), appeals to politicians in Berlin and Brussels: "The positive results of seed monitoring show how well absence of genetic engineering works in practice. To keep it that way, EU genetic engineering regulation must not be diluted. Continuous labelling and thus freedom of choice must be maintained in the interests of producers, manufacturers and consumers. The VLOG has been working for 15 years to ensure a GMO-free supply chain. During this time, Non-GMO food has grown into a considerable economic sector with a turnover of over 16 billion euros."
BVL: GMO and seeds - results of monitoring by the German Länder in the analysis year 2023 (in German)
LAG Gentechnik: Examination of seeds for genetically modified components for the 2022-23 monitoring season (in German)