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An EU Free from genetically
modified plants and animals

OUR VISION

We need agro-ecological and organic farming that is locally adapted, respects animal welfare and fosters biodiversity, and that allows farmers to produce healthy and nutritious food for all.

Genetic modification technology is a costly and potentially dangerous distraction from that.

That’s why we want to keep genetically modified crops and animals out of our fields and off our plates. We also want the feed given to animals all over the EU to be free from genetically modified (GM) crops.

WHAT WE’RE UP AGAINST

Since the 1990s, the use of genetic modification (GM) technology in agriculture has turned out to be an expensive experiment that has increased the use of agrichemicals and driven concentration in the seed industry. Today, the technology is only used by a handful of countries and for a few commodity crops, such as soya, maize and cotton. The EU does not grow GM crops but it still imports large amounts of them for animal feed.

Global seed producers like Bayer and Corteva are lobbying the European Commission to exclude GM crops engineered with new GM technology called ‘gene editing’ from EU GMO regulations, after the EU’s highest court ruled in 2018 that they must be covered by these rules.

Unfortunately, it looks like the industry lobbying is starting to work, so we need more than ever to join forces and campaign on this!

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WHAT WE’RE CALLING FOR


The EU should keep GM crops and animals out of our fields and stables. It should not import them from other countries either, turning a blind eye to unsustainable farming practices that it would not tolerate within its borders.

The EU could go a long way just by properly applying existing GMO regulations. Under these rules, GM products can only be authorised after a robust assessment of their potential impacts on the environment, animal and human health, and consideration of “other legitimate factors”. GM products must be traceable and labelled, to allow farmers, food producers and consumers to avoid them. Plus, national governments have the right to ban the cultivation of GM crops.

The European Court of Justice has confirmed that these rules also apply to products engineered with new GM techniques, such as CRISPR/Cas.

The Commission should:

  • Insist on a robust and complete risk assessment for all GM products;
  • Make sure that there are labels warning consumers about GM food and feed additives, also for meat, eggs and dairy produced from animals fed with GM feed.
  • Take into account the wider societal impacts, and especially the impacts outside the EU’s borders;
  • Only allow GM products on the EU market if a qualified majority of EU member states supports that decision.

OUR CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES

Filter
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Opinion |

New GM technology has no place in sustainable farming

Benoît Biteau Martin Häusling
Opinion by Benoît Biteau & Martin Häusling
New report shows that new GM technology won’t solve the problems of industrial agriculture and will undermine nature, climate protection and the European Green Deal.
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Event |

Gene editing - the reality behind the hype

In this online event, experts will respond to questions such as: How does gene editing work? What can it achieve? How does it compare with older-style genetic engineering technology? Who is promoting it and why? And what does it mean to maintain the EU’s regulatory framework or not?
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Study |

Gene Editing Myths and Reality

An unprecedented drive is under way to promote new genetic modification techniques that are collectively termed gene editing. A new report looks at the claims and shows them to be at best misleading and at worst deceptive.
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Event |

Find me if you can – Detecting gene-edited plants in the EU food chain

EU governments are worried that GM plants engineered with so-called “gene editing” cannot be distinguished from similar, non-GM plants and therefore cannot be regulated. Based on such “practical questions”, they asked the Commission to assess, by April 2021, whether these ...