Member states’ representatives decided to put in jeopardy the sovereignty and freedom of choice of European farmers and breeders by endorsing the Council’s negotiating mandate on the new genomic techniques (NGTs) regulation leaving aside essential traceability and labelling requirements.
After a long series of negotiations, member states’ representatives reached an agreement in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) endorsing the revised presidency text of the NGT Regulation put forward on February 19. With this proposal category 1 NGT plants and products would no longer be submitted to the mandatory risk assessment, traceability and labelling requirements, only category 1 NGT seeds would need to be labelled accordingly.
Clear traceability and labelling provisions for all NGTs are paramount to ensure that breeders, farmers, producers and consumers alike can make informed choices. This is particularly essential for the organic sector as both category 1 and 2 NGTs are banned in organic production. The integrity of the organic and GMO-free sector cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the operators. The possibility for Member States to adopt co-existence measures for all NGTs is a step in the right direction but by far not enough. With the reference to the Organic Regulation and the restriction to areas with specific geographical conditions the burden remains unchanged.
The European Parliament already set the right course for the upcoming trilogue negotiations by reinstating essential traceability and labelling requirements for category 1 NGTs and by introducing a full ban on patents for all NGT during last year’s plenary vote. “The Parliament must now uphold its position and enforce the ban on patents for all NGTs to guarantee the freedom of choice and sovereignty of European farmers and breeders. In the current state the regulation fails to protect them adequately from patent claims and therefore risks the further concentration of the seed market in the hands of a few key players”, urges Clara Behr, Head of Policy and Public Relations at the Biodynamic Federation Demeter International.
“Only a traceability and labelling system, accompanied by enforceable co-existence measures at national level, can ensure a minimum level of safeguard for the European farming and breeding sector”
According to IFOAM Organics Europe, the position agreed on with a qualified majority during the meeting of COREPER I on the legislative proposal on so-called “New Genomic Techniques” (NGTs) threatens European breeders, farmers, and the food industry. The text neither protects European breeders and farmers from patent claims, nor does it give the agriculture and food industry all the necessary means to safeguard their entrepreneurial freedom. “The Council position is a striking testimony to the continuous pressure to force an agreement on the NGT proposal as soon as possible and at any costs. But ‘the costs’ will be immense and largely borne by the European food and farming sector, breeders, the environment, and citizens”, said Jan Plagge, president of IFOAM Organics Europe.
He continued: “The Council’s position misses the mark in terms of safeguarding the European breeding sector from the threat of patent protections, despite previous widespread and encouraging political support to find a substantial solution on this crucial issue. On securing food sovereignty and guaranteeing the integrity of organic and conventional GMO-free food production, the Council integrated the possibility of national bans of Category 2 NGTs. Despite good intentions to introduce the right to take national coexistence measures for all NGTs, the corresponding amendments in the text are not workable because they are not reflected in a legal article and put the burden on organic operators by referring to the Organic Regulation. Beyond this, a full supply chain traceability system is needed for operators to have full freedom of choice – a mere seed label is not sufficient.”
Eyes on the trilogue negotiations: only a traceability and labelling system along the entire supply chain, accompanied by enforceable co-existence measures at national level, can ensure a minimum level of safeguard for the European farming and breeding sector.
- Further information at www.demeter.net and www.organicseurope.bio
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