Deputy leader of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament Michèle Rivasi (France) restated her group’s position on Monday 23 July that new GMOs developed through new biotechnological industry techniques should be subject to the requirements of Directive 2001/18 governing marketing authorisation of GMOs.
On 25 July, the ruling by the European Court of Justice on the legal status of “new GMOs” derived from what the industry calls “new selection techniques” is awaited– a ruling that will determine whether or not GMOs produced from these techniques will be exempted from legal evaluation, traceability and labelling requirements (see EUROPE 12067).
“GMOs obtained through these new techniques must be considered to be GMOs and, consequently, be subject to European legislation on older GMOs. The new GMOs are being promoted by the agrifood industry which would like to see them come outside the scope of the rules”, said Rivasi. She argues that “these patented organisms perpetuate dependence on multinationals such as Syngenta/Chem China, Corteva (formerly Dow Dupont) and the monster that has resulted from the Bayer-Monsanto merger”.
While the biotechnological industry urges innovation and progress, the Green group believes that these GMOs “continue the spiral of pesticide pollution, job losses in the agricultural sector, non-remunerative prices, soil depletion and destruction of ecosystems”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)