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Last chance to sign our petition on new GMOs
More than 400 000 signatures already collected!
 

With a large coalition of NGOs, the Biodynamic Federation Demeter International started a petition before the summer this year to keep new GMOs strictly regulated and labelled: https://demeter.net/keep-new-gm-food-strictly-regulated-and-labelled/.

The petition aims to call on EU decision makers to take a strong stand against any deregulation attempts of new GMOs and to uphold mandatory safety checks, transparency and labelling for all GMOs on the market. This is crucial to know what is in our fields and plates.
 
Already last year, the European Commission reopened the debate on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with its public consultation on a potential new legal framework for new GMOs excluding them from the current approval processes and risks assessments. This would mean that new GMOs would no longer be subject to the mandatory safety checks, traceability and labelling before entering the market. 

For the Federation and its partners, it is crucial to maintain the current GMO regulations also for new GMOs, not only because they come with the same risks and threats than the previous generation of GMOs, but also because without labelling and traceability GMO-farming will be under threat. 

More than 400 000 signatures were already collected so far! We have now one last week until November 20 to collect additional signatures. Around 50 organisations in 18 different countries across the EU run and support the petition (see here for the full list of partners). Several member organisations of the Federation also took part in the petition and helped us spread the word. 

This is your last chance to sign our petition to call on EU decision makers to maintain safety checks, transparency and labelling for all GMOs on the market:  https://demeter.net/keep-new-gm-food-strictly-regulated-and-labelled/. Please note that the petition is also open to non-EU citizens, every signature counts to make our voice stronger!

The Federation will in any case continue to advocate for a strong regulation of all GMOs and oppose any further deregulation plans. Thanks to everyone who supported us! 

For more information, please contact Clara Behr, Head of Policy and Public Relations of the Federation at: clara.behr@demeter.net. 

Background information:

So far, all GMOs fall under the scope of the EU’s GMO legislation of 2001, if they are not the result of GM techniques that have a “long history of safe use”. This means that they are subject to EU authorization, to risk assessment, GMO labelling and traceability.

But with the development in recent years of the new genetic modification techniques such as TALENs, zinc ­finger nuclease and CRISPR/Cas9, the status of these techniques is being questioned. Seed producers like Bayer/Monsanto and Corteva claim that seeds engineered by these techniques are not GMOs and should not fall under the EU’s GMO regulations, presenting them as a solution in the current climate debate.

Although the new generation of GM techniques is often presented as more precise and safer, risks and threats remain the same. Many of the laboratory processes used remain the same, resulting in unforeseeable and unintended changes in the genome. In addition, the “gene scissors” themselves also lead to unintended changes, with unknown consequences for human health and ecosystems.

For these reasons, the Federation always excluded any use of GMOs, using old or new techniques, as they are not in accordance with the principles of biodynamic farming. The current EU labelling and traceability system is what ensures the production of GMO-free food and is therefore essential for organic and biodynamic farming. Any changes to the current regulation would put under threat the biodynamic certification process and more generally the production of GM-free food.

Organic and biodynamic farming show that farming can be done in a way that preserves the environment and our health. We believe that new GM techniques are not the solution to climate change. A fundamental change in our farming systems is needed instead! 

Therefore, the Federation is asking the EU Commission to keep new GMOs regulated under the current EU’s GMO regulations to protect public health and the environment, and to respect the EU’s precautionary principle.

To know more about new GMOs – what they are and the risks and threats they represent – please have a look at our latest leaflet (available in English, Spanish, French and German). For more detailed information, you can read our position paper.

For more news from the Federation on our website and social media:
@bfdi_demeter
Demeter - International
@demeterinternational
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Copyright © Biodynamic Federation Demeter International e.V.



Biodynamic Federation Demeter International e.V.
Hauptstraße 82
70771 Echterdingen
Germany
www.demeter.net I www.you-will-grow.net/ 


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