A group of 74 NGOs sent a letter to Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan on Tuesday 5 May asking him to strengthen or at least maintain EU food safety standards for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in trade negotiations with the United States.
“We ask you do all you can [...] to prevent any weakening of existing protections under the mum of lifting ‘regulatory barriers’ to trade”, the NGOs wrote to the Commissioner.
Indeed, Washington regularly calls on the EU to change its sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, specifically on hormones or agricultural biotechnology, because the US authorities consider that they unnecessarily restrict agricultural exports from their country (see EUROPE 12459/22, 12284/4, 12273/29).
But the Commission has always refused to submit to such pressure. When asked by EUROPE, a spokesperson for the institution indicated that the Commission is conducting these exploratory talks with the United States “in full compliance with the existing mandates” and completely consistent with the EU’s domestic regulatory and legal framework.
Recalling that EU rules governing the marketing of GMOs “are there for good reasons: to protect people and the environment”, the NGOs signing the letter also recommend improving the assessments provided by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which, according to them, currently ignore “important pathways of potential harm” from GMOs.
They also call for the strengthening of EU legislation in this area, in particular to fill gaps in the labelling of GMOs.
Finally, they call for reforms of the authorisation process for these bodies that would give more weight to the European Parliament to make the process more democratic.
To read the letter: https://bit.ly/3b9NPcu (Original version in French by Damien Genicot and Hermine Donceel)