Take action: No weakening of safety rules for new GMOs

Stop the European Commission’s attempt to deregulate new GMOs made with novel genetic modification techniques. Demand it applies the EU’s GMO existing safety rules to these new products, and guarantees the right to know what we grow and eat.

A public consultation has just started, which will run for only four weeks until 22 October 2021. Given the fact that industry's voice is being heard loud and clear, it's important that everyone participates! Please send your comment to the European Commission by filling in the form below. To make it easy, a draft message is ready for you, but you can adapt it as you wish.

The biotech industry is waging an ongoing lobby battle to exclude its new generation of genetic modification techniques from current European GMO regulations. This deregulation move would mean that plants, animals and micro-organisms, made using ‘genome editing’ techniques like CRISPR-Cas, would not be subject to safety checks, monitoring, or consumer labelling.

In 2018 the EU’s highest court ruled that that the current regulations must be applied to new GMOs, and therefore undergo a strict safety evaluation, be labelled as GM, and be traceable throughout the supply chain.

But in May 2021, the Commission published a ‘study’ following an extremely biased targeted consultation, to which it invited 74 per cent industry participation. The Commission's report concluded that the EU GMO rules are “no longer fit for purpose” and are now taking further steps to deregulate them.

This means risks to health or the environment would no longer be taken into account. There would no longer be the possibility to reject GM food. Meanwhile, corporations like Bayer and BASF can increase their profit through patents on these products.

Join this action and let the Commission know that the EU GMO rules should be improved, not hollowed out!