Brussels, 05/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - One million signatures. That's the score for the Greenpeace launched petition of European citizens who called for mandatory labelling of animal products such as eggs, milk and meat from animals fed on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Signatures were gathered from 21 member states between May 2005 and December 2006, from ordinary citizens who all wanted to exercise their right to freedom of information.
Marco Contiero, a genetics expert at the Greenpeace European Unit stated, “This petition is a call for the EU to stop letting GMOs in through the back door of Europe and onto our plates through a loophole in the law… We will be asking Commissioner Kyprianou today, when we deliver the million signatures, to grant citizens the right to choose for themselves whether to eat food from animals fed with GMOs."
Markos Kyprianou welcomed this petition as a significant indication of citizens' points of views. He also provided assurances to representatives from NGOs that the Commission would be looking at this dossier closely. On the subject of GMO labelling, the commissioner explained that decisions were taken by the three European institutions but he said: “We will look into the matter. We will look into the science to see if what is demanded is scientifically justified”.
Since 2003, European legislation demands that products such as cooking oil and ketchup, for example, have to be labelled if they contain at least 0.9% GMOs. This decisive mandatory labelling threshold also applies to animal feed. Only animal derived products such as milk, eggs and meat have not been subject to this mandatory labelling. Greenpeace considers that this loophole needs to be resolved because 90% of genetically modified products imported into Europe are soja and maize for animal feed. Animal feed in Europe can contain up to 30% of GMOs, which means that every year around 20 million tonnes of GMOs enter the food chain unbeknown to consumers, affirms the NGO.
Greenpeace points out that public participation in decision-making processes is considered essential in the European Constitution proposal that the German presidency of the EU is trying to get back on track. This text allows civil society the right to demand Community legislation based on principles included in this Constitution (Article 1-47-4), such as the right to information and free expression. (an)