With the adoption of the European Commission’s proposal to authorise so-called new GMOs, legal uncertainty for breeders and farmers will increase, as will the number of lawsuits filed against them. This was made clear today during an online briefing by Friends of the Earth Europe featuring Mute Schimpf, a food campaigner at the organisation, Charlotte Labogge, an activist at the French bee conservation NGO Polynes, as well as Sonke Gutenberg, Head of Public Relations at the German Association for Genetically Engineered-Free Food (VLOG).
The Polish EU presidency is trying to speed up the adoption of the European Commission’s proposal for a broad deregulation of the new generation of genetically modified organisms (new GMOs) or so-called “new genomic techniques”, despite unclear national positions and concerns about patents on genetic maetrial.
The proposal will be put to a vote by the permanent representatives of the EU member states on 12 March, during a COREPER meeting. A week before the meeting, Friends of the Earth Europe stated its strong position against the prepared tests. According to the environmentalists, deregulation of GMOs would directly increase the concentration of the seed market, 60% of which is currently controlled by four companies. If this were to happen, farmers and breeders would have less choice over seeds (genetic resources) and would have to conclude licensing contracts directly with patent owners – mainly large seed companies, said Charlotte Labogue.
Under current directives, all generations of new genomic techniques are defined as GMOs. This means that they are subject to regulation, but they can be placed on the market, authorised and even cultivated in the European Union, i.e. they are not banned. However, in order to obtain rights and go on the market, they need authorisation. In order to be authorised, they go through a series of checks regarding the risks to nature and to human and animal health. In addition, the company wishing to place GMOs on the market must disclose the method of detection once it has been authorised. There are also requirements for GMOs to be labelled and tracked through the chain.
For example, if you buy a frozen pizza and it contains rapeseed oil from GM rapeseed, this must be stated on the label, even if it is only 1 or 2% of the total weight of the product. Furthermore, traceability along the chain ensures that farmers, food processors, retailers or consumers are informed whether products contain GMOs, i.e. they can make an informed choice about what to consume. This is also guaranteed in the General Food Law.
And at the moment, new GMOs can be used in the European Union, but they just need authorisation, said Mütte Schimpf.
The European Commission’s proposal, with the publication of the draft law on 24 July last year, is to fully deregulate 94% of the so-called new GMOs. According to Schimpf, the definition of new GMOs is very vague, the rationale being that they are like conventional genetic engineering.
“Traceability and labelling provisions are mandatory in GMO legislation. And today the European Commission proposes to abolish them for most of the new GMO plants,” the eco-activist summarised. She said this would have a direct impact on farmers and breeders as they would not be able to track and access GMO detection and identification methods. This, according to the specialist, is expected to lead to increased abuse of seed patents. Companies that hold patents will be able to claim ownership rights even over plants that have been contaminated by patented GMOs, or that have a similar characteristic to those subject to patents but obtained through traditional cross-breeding methods. This creates the possibility that farmers and breeders could be prosecuted for patent infringement by large seed companies, Charlotte Labogue commented. It will be impossible for them to prove that the material used is not patented for two reasons: on the one hand, they will not have access to the detection and identification methods, and on the other, they will not have the means to sequence the genome of all the seeds they grow or sell.
The direct consequences of this will be bankruptcy or, at the very least, limited access to seeds and genetic resources, according to eco-activists. Ultimately, they will be forced to negotiate licences with patent owners, which will be very costly, Friends of the Earth Europe said.
At the beginning of last year, the Public Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PCESD) handed the governor of Varna, prof. Andriyana Andreeva an open letter to the Prime Minister Acad. Nikolay Denkov and the Minister of Environment and Water Yulian Popov. The document is a call to vote “against” the European Commission’s proposal to deregulate GMO plants produced with “new genomic techniques”.
