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VLOG meets with SPD MPs for an exchange in the Bundestag

Sönke Guttenberg, Alexander Hissting, Isabel Mackensen-Geis, Dr Juliane Falzmann and Lena Bassermann

VLOG Board member Dr Juliane Falzmann (whose primary position is Senior Director of Quality Management at the Rewe Group), VLOG Managing Director Alexander Hissting, Sönke Guttenberg (Media and Public Relations) and Lena Bassermann (Public Affairs) met the two MPs at the German Parliament Bundestag for an exchange on the necessary political framework to ensure that the "Ohne Gentechnik" food sector can continue to operate successfully and grow even after the new EU regulations on New Genetic Engineering (NGT) are put into force.

The focus was on the question of how the use of NGT can be excluded from the "Ohne Gentechnik“ production in the future, given that the statutory labelling requirement for a large proportion of NGT (so-called "NGT1") will no longer apply. A key element in this regard is the established and tried-and-tested national protective regulations for GMO cultivation, such as information requirements and buffer zone regulations. In this regard, VLOG presented the SPD MPs with, amongst other materials, the legal opinion by Dr Georg Buchholz, which he had drawn up on behalf of our association. According to the legal opinion, the existing national protective regulations can and must continue to be applied to all NGT, including NGT1.

“We are pleased with the positive and constructive exchange with Isabel Mackensen-Geis and David Mandrella and look forward to working together to ensure that ‘Ohne Gentechnik’ remains fit for the future. The SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag has played a very special role for VLOG from the very beginning, as the legal basis for our seal stems largely from the initiative of the SPD parliamentary group at the time,” said VLOG Board member Dr Juliane Falzmann, summarising the meeting with the MPs.

Isabel Mackensen-Geis is deputy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group’s Working Group on Agriculture, Food and Regional Affairs. David Mandrella has been a Member of the Bundestag since March 2026, having taken the seat vacated by the late Carsten Träger. He is also a member of this working group and his parliamentary group’s rapporteur on the issue of genetic engineering.