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Genetic engineering plans: "EU Commission getting ready to destroy sustainable business assets"

07/05/2023 - Today, the EU Commission officially presented its plans for genetic engineering. If they were implemented, many GM food products would end up unlabelled on supermarket shelves.

Stoll: Attack on the 'Ohne Gentechnik' (Non-GMO) and organic farming sectors

"The EU Commission is getting ready to destroy sustainable business assets. This is an attack on the 'Ohne Gentechnik' and the organic farming economy, which together account for more than 30 billion euros in sales in Germany alone," explains Bernhard Stoll, Executive Board member of the Association Food without Genetic Engineering (VLOG) and Managing Director of the Raiffeisen-Kraftfutterwerk Kehl, Germany.

Hissting: Chaos proposal with three types of genetic engineering is unsuitable

VLOG Managing Director Alexander Hissting adds: "If the Commission were to get away with this chaos proposal, there would end up being three types of genetic engineering: First, the 'old' one. Then a second, new one, which would also have to be labelled as genetic engineering, but in addition it would be possible to write on it what it is supposed to be good for. And then a third type of genetic engineering, which would no longer have to be labelled, but would still be banned in organic farming.

The boundaries in between are purely arbitrary. No one can possibly understand this. The vast majority of GM foodstuffs would no longer be labelled, even though the vast majority of consumers want to know how their food is produced. This draft of the EU Commission is completely unsuitable and no longer salvageable, that must also be clear to the German Federal Government.

EU Commission: Concealing genetic engineering? A poor plan!

Frankfurter Rundschau: "Battle has just begun": Opponents warn against EU Commission's genetic engineering plans (German)

Berliner Morgenpost: EU's genetic engineering plans: consumers should defend themselves (German)

Tagesschau: Old dispute over new genetic engineering (German)

ZDF: German Development Minister against genetic engineering (German)

Merkur: EU proposal on genetic engineering: Sharp criticism from Lemke (German)

ENGA: Deregulation of New Genomic Techniques - GMO-free agriculture and food production is at stake