VLOG Newsletter September 2024: VLOG - Verband Lebensmittel ohne Gentechnik e.V.

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VLOG Newsletter 05/24 .:. September

Dear readers,

The business initiative "Food Industry for Freedom of Choice" came to a very successful conclusion with the handover of the Open Letter to the current EU Council President for Agriculture and Fisheries and Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, Dr István Nagy. He accepted the Open Letter on New Genetic Engineering (NGT) and the list of 376 signatory businesses from 16 EU Member States and promised to lobby the EU agriculture ministers for consistent labelling, traceability and fair competition. The signatories include industry giants such as the REWE Group, SPAR Austria and dm-drogerie markt.

Berchtesgadener Land dairy has not only been involved as a co-initiator of the Open Letter and as the main sponsor of the 15th anniversary of the "Ohne GenTechnik" seal, but has also committed all of the cooperative's farmers to GMO-free production since the start of the "Ohne Gentechnik" certification in 2010. In doing so, they are contributing to the high share of "Ohne Gentechnik" milk in the overall market, as the latest surveys by German Agrarmarkt Informationsgesellschaft (AMI) show. Since 2020, the share of GMO-free milk has been over 70 percent.

NGT and securing GMO-free production will also be the focus of the "International Non-GMO Summit 2024" on 8 October in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. International experts from politics, business and science will provide information on current hot topics and trends in Non-GMO markets worldwide. Secure your participation at www.nongmosummit.com!

Your VLOG team

GMO-free milk accounts for over 75 percent of total German milk volume

Well over three-quarters of milk in 2023 was produced in Germany without genetic engineering, 72.1 percent conventionally and 4.5 percent under organic farming criteria. Many dairies, including the Berchtesgadener Land dairy, help ensuring that GMO-free milk is available at a consistently high level.

Campaign for GMO-free food

From 13 September to 13 October 2024, an alliance of associations and initiatives is promoting a campaign for a GMO-free agriculture and food industry. Numerous events will draw attention to the threats posed to food production without genetic engineering by the deregulation of EU genetic engineering legislation. 19 September marks "GMO-free food day".

European enterprises call for rigorous labelling of NGTs

Dr István Nagy, current EU Council President for Agriculture and Fisheries, met today with representatives of a business initiative to submit an Open Letter "Food Industry for Freedom of Choice". 376 businesses from the food industry in 16 EU Member States have signed the letter. Among them are renowned industry giants as the REWE Group, the third largest food retailer in the EU, the leading retailer in Austria, SPAR Austria, Europe's largest drugstore chain, dm-drogerie markt and the world's largest organic supermarket chain Biocoop.

Greenpeace supermarket check: "Ohne GenTechnik" seal creates transparency

Greenpeace has regularly surveyed the major grocery chains on their meat ranges since 2020, and on dairy products since 2022. Greenpeace is dissatisfied with the development in the food retail sector regarding the labelling of farming methods. In contrast, the environmental organisation believes that GMO labelling is very well covered by the "Ohne GenTechnik" (Non-GMO) seal. VLOG has asked the food retailers about new genetic engineering.

International conference on the future of the Non-GMO industry

Last call: Get your tickets now! The most important European industry associations of the "Non-GMO" sector will be hosting the "International Non-GMO Summit 2024" in Frankfurt am Main in Germany on 8 October 2024. International experts from politics, business and science will provide information on current important topics and trends in the "Non-GMO" markets worldwide. The focus will be on the ongoing political debate surrounding new genetic engineering and its potential impact on the "Non-GMO" and organic sectors.

Market research: "Ohne GenTechnik" seal scores highly in seal check

In his presentation at the VLOG .:. Forum on the current state of market research into food seals, Dr Holger Buxel gave the "Ohne GenTechnik" seal consistently good marks. You can find a summary of the results and a video of the entire presentation in our press release.

Feasibility study: Detection methods for new genetic engineering are realistic

The research project on "Detection and identification methods for genome-edited plants", which has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) since January 2021, presented interesting results in July this year. According to these results, the detection of NGT plants is possible and reliable tests can be developed for this purpose.

Detection methods for new genetic engineering: DARWIN Project presented at the VLOG .:. Forum

The EU-funded international research project DARWIN is developing innovative detection methods for the traceability and transparency of products from new genetic engineering. First-hand information was provided at the VLOG .:. Forum in Berlin.

Hungary opens the debate on genetic engineering deregulation

The first EU Council working group on the regulation of new genomic technologies (NGT) under the Hungarian Council Presidency will meet on 19 July 2024. In this discussion paper, Hungary raises fundamental questions about the EU Commission's draft legislation. Member States call for far-reaching changes.

DARWIN Project: Giessen University researches consumer behaviour regarding new genetic engineering

Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) is part of the EU research project DARWIN and is looking into questions of acceptance, transparency, knowledge transfer and communication on the subject of new genetic engineering.

VLOG Standard - Publication Version 25.01

Version 25.01 of the VLOG Standard is available for download on the Standard website since 1 September 2024. Simplifications such as the removal of the certification obligation for cattle rearing facility and, from 2026, the discontinuation of the annual transmission of the stable space overview and analysis results by agricultural group organisers will reduce bureaucracy in the VLOG system. Summaries of the significant changes and a Standard version in which these are marked can be found in the "Revision documents and information" section and in the next VLOG newsletters. As usual, application of the new version is obligatory from 1 January of the coming year.

EU Green Claims Initiative

VLOG is following the legislative process very closely and is scrutinising the proposals and drafts on the table. The most important question for us is whether and what impact the new Green Claims Directive is likely to have on the "Ohne GenTechnik" seal / trademark, "VLOG geprüft" or the VLOG "Ohne Gentechnik" system in general. We are in contact with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), which is in charge of the negotiations, to assess whether "Ohne Gentechnik" should be considered an environmental claim. We will inform our members and licencees of any relevant findings. Please contact our office if you have any detailed questions.

On our own behalf: Looking for a VLOG auditor

We are looking for an auditor (m,f,d) in the VLOG Integrity team (at least 30 hours per week) for the feed and agriculture stages from the beginning of 2025. You can find the full job advert here.

Campaign for GMO-free food
with "GMO-free food day" on 19 September
13 September - 13 October 2024, Germany-wide events

Fewer rules for new genetic engineering in Europe? Criticism from the scientific community
24 September 2024, online debate

Non-GMO Summit 2024
7 - 8 October 2024, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Frankfurt am Main/Germany

New "Ohne GenTechnik" seal user

- Melkweg Aarts & Van Haaren B.V.

New "VLOG geprüft" seal users

- Dr. Eckel Animal Nutrition GmbH & Co. KG

- Pulte GmbH & Co. KG

- Röschmann Landhandel GmbH

New VLOG Member

- Janssen Ei Ysselsteyn B.V.

Verband Lebensmittel ohne Gentechnik e.V. (VLOG)
Association Food without Genetic Engineering

Friedrichstrasse 153a
10117 Berlin
Germany

Tel.: +49 (0)30 2359 945 00
Fax.: +49 (0)30 2359 945 01

www.ohnegentechnik.org
info@ohnegentechnik.org