GMO-free news from Portugal
2012-01-16 | permalink
Azores (Portugal) condemn U.S. ”interference” against GMO ban
The Regional Government of the Azores and environmental organizations condemned what they termed US “interference” lobbying against plans to ban the use of genetically modified organisms on the archipelago. A government official in Ponta Delgada, the capital, told LUSA on Thursday, that a recent letter from US Ambassador Allan Katz pressing Azores officials was “inappropriate.”
2011-12-28 | permalink
Azores (Portugal) declared GMO-free zone
The regional government of the Azores archipelago on the mid-Atlantic ridge has declared it is a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) free zone. As such, the region “prohibits the growing, sowing, planting nor breeding of any GMOs throughout its territory”. The regulation still permits exceptions for scientific research and technological development that are clearly in the public’s interest.
2011-10-12 | permalink
Portuguese farmers call for more GE crops to remain competitive and environmentally-friendly
Portuguese farmers have grown nearly 60% more genetically modified maize this year compared to last year, an increase of almost 3,000 ha to a total of 7,843 ha in 2011. This impressive growth highlights the need for more innovative agricultural technologies in the European Union. Compared to North and South America, Asia, and, increasingly, Africa, the EU has approved far fewer GM products, which directly affects farmers’ competitiveness.
2011-09-26 | permalink
EU GMO policy favours corporations - not the public interest
European Union policy concerning genetically modified organisms is unsatisfactory - where it relates to compliance with basic criteria like public health protection, conservation of the environment, transparency, informed consumer choice and promotion of rural and socioeconomic development. There is a conflict becoming clearer and clearer each day: the opposition between the interests of the big corporations of the agro-business sector, producing GMOs, and the rigorous application of the precautionary principle - safeguarding the above mentioned criteria. Legislators cannot be neutral on this conflict. Either they stand for corporations or they stand for the public interest.
2010-12-15 | permalink
MON810 GE maize acreage drops in Portugal and Spain
GM maize cultivation (MON 810) in Portugal fell this year for the first time since the variety’s commercial authorisation in 2005, anti-GM association Transgénicos Fora reports. According to Portuguese agriculture ministry data, 4,868 hectares were planted with GM maize compared with a peak of 5,201 hectares in 2009. [...] In Spain, 2010 has seen an 11% year-on-year drop to 67,726 hectares, the smallest area of GM maize cultivation since 2006, according to data from seed producers.
2010-05-10 | permalink
European Commission allows Madeira (Portugal) to become GMO-free region
Last week, the [European] commission quietly let the deadline pass for opposing Portugal’s request, allowing Madeira, which is one of Portugal’s autonomous regions, to become the first E.U. territory to get formal permission from Brussels to remain entirely free of genetically modified organisms. Madeira now will probably go ahead and implement the ban, a spokeswoman for the Portuguese government said Friday.
2008-09-18 | permalink
Transgenic crops’ days may be numbered in Europe
Pressure from the president of the European Commission has not succeeded in advancing the cause of transgenic crops. In spite of the power wielded by the executive organ of the European Union, the bloc’s member countries are gradually discontinuing the use of genetically modified seeds. [...] Portuguese biologist Margarida Silva, the national coordinator of Plataforma Transgénicos Fora, comprising 12 Portuguese non-governmental organisations working on agriculture and the environment and networking with likeminded NGOs in the EU, told [...] that ”the movement against transgenics is growing in civil society throughout Europe, and GM crops have already been banned in several countries.” ”There isn’t much that Europeans can do, but the power of numbers is still on our side, and we can use them to back Stavros Dimas,” she said.
2008-02-05 | permalink
Area planted in GMOs in Portugal increases 330% compared to 2006
The monitors and the results verify that the technical norms stipulated in the legislation are effective as far as ensuring the accidental presence of GMOs remains minimal in conventional products and that the contamination rate is less than 0.4% (the maximum values defined by law must remain below 0.9%). To obtain these results, 32 samples were analyzed after being collected from conventional maize grown adjacent to fields planted with MON810 genetically modified maize.
2007-12-31 | permalink
All farmers of the Municipality of Lagos (Portugal) support GE-free declaration
The Lagos municipality recently completed all legal requirements to become the first biotechnology-free zone in Portugal, subsequent the established procedures of the Government of Portugal (GOP) for declaring this status. The Algarve Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries verified that all Lagos municipality farmers supported the request. As noted in GAIN PO7007, all farmers in a region/county must support the biotechnology-free declaration for it to be fully recognized, and if a farmer in the municipality decides to use biotechnology, the GOP will revoke the biotechnology-free status.
2007-11-06 | permalink
Community of Lagos is the first official GE maize free zone in Portugal
The Agriculture Ministry announced today that the first legal GM free zone has been approved in Portugal. The procedure was initiated by the Lagos local government under the rules defined by the GM free zone law, published September 2006. Lagos is a southern municipality which had already declared itself GM free in June 2006. In order to become a legal GM free zone the Lagos farmers’ organisations were heard and did not raise any objections. Attached you can see the map with the current (non-legal) GM free zones (in green), and the Lagos legal zone (in pink).
The Agriculture Ministry announced today that the first legal GM free zone has been approved in Portugal. The procedure was initiated by the Lagos local government under the rules defined by the GM free zone law, published September 2006. Lagos is a southern municipality which had already declared itself GM free in June 2006. In order to become a legal GM free zone the Lagos farmers’ organisations were heard and did not raise any objections.
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