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VLOG .:. Forum 2023 on the EU Commission's plans regarding genetic engineering
According to the leak, the EU Commission wants to abolish risk assessment, authorisation procedures and compulsory labelling for a large part of "new genetic engineering" plants. This would mean the end of transparency and of freedom of choice. What does this mean for consumers, for "Ohne Gentechnik" (Non-GMO) labeling and for the agricultural and food sector as a whole? What are the next steps in the political process? How can this plan still be stopped?
This will be discussed by the Greens Party Member of the German Parliament (Bundestag) and former Federal Minister of Agriculture Renate Künast, Michaela Schröder, Head of Consumer Policy at the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) and Dr. Momme Matthiesen, Managing Director of OVID and of Grain Club, as well as by VLOG Managing Director Alexander Hissting at the VLOG .:. Forum 2023. The panel will be moderated by journalist Annette Bruhns, who first reported on the genetic engineering leak on Table.Media.
To open the discussion, Heike Moldenhauer, Secretary General of the European Non-GMO Industry Association (ENGA), will present and explain the EU Commission's draft before the panel.
VLOG .:. Forum 2023 on 29 June 2023 from 13:15 at Hotel Rossi, Berlin
13:15: The EU Commission's plans on genetic engineering: What do they say and what do they mean?
Heike Moldenhauer will present the plans from Brussels that have been announced in advance. She has been Secretary General of ENGA (European Non-GMO Industry Association) since 2021. Previously, Heike Moldenhauer was EU policy advisor at VLOG. For 17 years, she was head of GMO policy at BUND and a member of Friends of the Earth Europe's GMO steering group. She has campaigned for GMO-free food and farming in Europe for over 30 years.
13:45: The beans are spilled: What happens now with and without genetic engineering in the EU?
Panel discussion with:
Renate Künast MdB is the spokesperson for the Working Group on Food and Agriculture of the Green Party in the Bundestag. A lawyer by training, she joined the Berlin Alternative List in 1979 and was active in state politics for many years. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002 and was chair of the Green parliamentary group from 2005 to 2013. From 2001 to 2005, Renate Künast was Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection and campaigned for GMO-free agriculture and "Ohne Gentechnik" labelling.
Michaela Schröder has been head of the Consumer Policy Division of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) since 2022. As head of the division and member of the executive board, she is responsible for the consumer policy topics of digital and media, financial market, health and care, and food. Her division also includes the association's Brussels office. A graduate in business law, she has worked for the vzbv since 2010.
Dr Momme Matthiesen is Managing Director of OVID (Verband der Ölsaatenverarbeitenden Industrie in Deutschland e.V.) as well as Managing Director of the Grain Club, an association of five German agricultural associations. Previously, the agricultural scientist with a PhD was Corporate Affairs Manager at Bunge Germany and an advisor at the German Raiffeisen Association. Momme Matthiesen considers "gene editing" to be promising and says that Europe should not allow itself to be left behind internationally when it comes to regulating genetic engineering.
Alexander Hissting is the managing director and best-known face of the Association Food without Genetic Engineering (VLOG). He co-founded the association in 2010 and has successfully built it up ever since. He is a trained farmer and agricultural engineer by profession. Alexander Hissting has been campaigning for GMO-free agriculture, feed and food processing in various positions for 30 years. He is committed to maintaining transparency on supermarket shelves and freedom of choice for consumers and businesses.
Host
Annette Bruhns is a journalist and has been observing federal politics for Table.Media since 2023, with a special focus on agriculture, the environment and health. She was an editor for Der Spiegel for 25 years, where she was in charge of the news pages, among other things. Most recently, she was head of communications at Naturland e. V., and before that editor-in-chief of the Hamburg homeless magazine Hinz&Kunzt. Annette Bruhns is closely following the current debate on genetic engineering re-regulation and was the first to report on the leaked draft by the EU Commission on 15 June 2023.
Thursday, 29 June 2023, 13:15 to 15:15
Hotel Rossi, Lehrter Str. 66, 10557 Berlin (near main train station)
The event is open to the public. Please register at event@ohnegentechnik.org.
Hotel Rossi, venue of the VLOG .:. Forum 2023
EU Commission: Concealing genetic engineering? A poor plan!
Table.Media: New genetic engineering: EU proposal does not provide for compulsory labelling (German)
Photos: Mehdi Bahmed (Alexander Hissting), Anne Hufnagl (Renate Künast), Joannes Arlt (Annette Bruhns)