200+ Organisations oppose deregulation New GMOs
New Polish proposal threathens environment, consumer rights
Over 200 organisations express their fierce opposition to a deregulation proposal on new GMOs in a joint statement released today. Corporate Europe Observatory is one of its signatories.
Lobby groups defending the interests of large biotech seed corporations have waged a lobby campaign for years for deregulation, as documented extensively by CEO. They stand to benefit massively, while farmers, independent plant breeders, consumers and the environment stand to lose out.
The latest text, coming from the Polish EU Presidency, would scrap any safety checks for new GMOs, as well as labelling and traceability requirements, effectively erasing consumer choice. Nor is any liability scheme foreseen, in case a new GM product would cause damage.
The organisations call on European countries to protect their farmers and breeders, as well as citizens and nature. "All new GMOs must remain covered by an assessment of the risks and monitoring, identification and detection methods, and traceability and labelling along the food chain."
The Joint Statement also highlights the many outstanding unresolved issues on the table, such as patents, identification and detection methods, price of seeds, seed diversity, coexistence, negative socioeconomic impacts and risk of further corporate control of the food chain.
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