The European Union should apply strict approval standards to new generations of gene-edited crops similar to those for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Germany's junior environment minister said on Tuesday.

Gene-editing technology such as CRISPR/Cas9 allows scientists to edit genes by using biological "scissors" which can find and replace selected stretches of DNA.

Disease-resistant pigs and field crops are being developed but there have been calls for the new techniques to be subjected to the strict approval system for GMO plants.

The German government, traditionally skeptical of GMOs and other biotech food, is still formulating its policy toward the new generation of gene-edited agricultural products.

"It is important that GMO approval criteria should be applied here," junior environment minister Jochen Flasbarth told Reuters.

This is because the changes in the plants can have a significant impact and the possibly to turn back changes may not be available without a strict approval process, he said.

The EU is also still considering whether to class gene-edited plants as genetically modified. Supporters of the new technology maintain this is unneeded as no extra genes are added to the crops.

Under the draft German law, applicants seeking EU approval to cultivate GMO crops will be asked by the German government to remove Germany from the area in the EU where the crops are approved for growing.

If this is refused, a ban on growing the GMO crop in Germany can be imposed even if the EU approves the plant strain as safe to cultivate.

Germany's federal and state governments will in future decide together whether to ban the cultivation of crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are allowed in the European Union, a draft law showed, ending a long dispute.

An EU law in March 2015 cleared the way for the approval of new GMO crops after years of deadlock. But it also gave individual countries the right to ban GMO crops even after they have been approved as safe by the European Commission.

In Sept. 2015, Germany told the EU it would not permit the cultivation of GMO crops but there has been disagreement whether this ban should be undertaken by federal or state authorities.

NASHVILLE, Tenn (RFD-TV) Bayer AG, a German-based pharmaceutical company recently proposed a $66 billion takeover of U.S. seed company, Monsanto Co. – an idea that was not well received by the German people.

From one perspective, Monsanto was an advocate of genetically modified crops and a weed killer that could cause cancer, and had no place in the German market.

A group of MEPs has asked the Commission to examine the Bayer-Monsanto merger, and some of France’s best-known chefs have written an open letter condemning the invasion of the food chain by the agrochemical industry. EurActiv France reports.

A group of 55 MEPs yesterday (22 September) sent a letter to the European Commission, expressing their concern over the fusion of agricultural and chemical giants Bayer and Monsanto. Written by Green MEP Michèle Rivasi, the letter was co-signed by 54 of her colleagues, primarily from the European Parliament’s left-wing groups (Greens/EFA, S&D, GUE/NGL).

In it, the lawmakers urged the European executive’s DG Competition to address the subject quickly, if only because the new super-corporation’s €23 billion revenue would so far exceed the €5bn threshold for Commission scrutiny. The company’s European revenue is also well above €250 million, and Bayer and Monsanto are both big players on the same pesticides and seeds markets.

347 GMO-free-municipalities, 215 GMO-free-regions and 31,960 GMO-free-farmers´ land have been declared as GMO-free zones in Germany.

Press release 25 August 2016

European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER)

The recent Nobel laureates’ open letter to the United Nations and governments around the world, accusing Greenpeace of a “crime against humanity” for opposing genetically modified (GMO) golden rice, elicited a reaction from scientists Angelika Hilbeck and Hans Herren (Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich). They point out that the letter does not recognise the facts about golden rice and makes many scientifically unsubstantiated claims. Among the Nobel laureate signatories, there seems to be hardly anybody with a solid scientific track record in agriculture, food production, development, or the socio-ecological and political causes of poverty and hunger. Others with notable competence – at least in the economic and social domains of development, poverty, and hunger – are not among the signatories. Hilbeck and Herren present the missing facts.

Health risks of residues from spraying with herbicides not assessed

Sunday, 24 July 2016

According to news agencies, the EU Commissionhas allowed the import of genetically engineered soybeans produced by Bayer and Monsanto. The imported soybeans can be used in food and feed despite unresolved concerns about health risks. These crops can be sprayed with a combination of glyphosate and other herbicides such as dicamba or isoxaflutole. Market authorisation has been issued after massive pressure from industry, which already sold its patented seeds in the US for cultivation and now wants to import the harvest to the EU within the next months. The European Food Safety Authority EFSA only recently stated that the health risks resulting from herbicide residues cannot be properly assessed, and that safety levels cannot be defined since the relevant data are missing.

What the International Monsanto Tribunal wants to achieve

and why the Bayer-Monsanto merger must be blocked

Berlin, June 22th, 2016 – An alliance between NABU, Navdanya International, IFOAM (International Foundation for Organic Agriculture), Organics International and the Coordination against BAYER risks, invites you to a press conference that will take place on Monday, June 27th, 2016, from 12pm to 1pm at NABU Bundesgeschäftsstelle, Charitéstraße 3, Berlin-Mitte.

The speakers are:

– Dr. Vandana Shiva, globally known activist, eco-feminist, and winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award, 1993)

– Antonius Michelmann renowned chemist and new director of the Coordination against BAYER risks

-Sarah Wiener, acclaimed cook and activist on food and agricultural issues

Presentation: Bernward Geier

We need to protect our favourite vegetables!

29 June 2016, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. European Patent Office, Bob van Benthem Platz 1, Munich

European patent laws say that patents cannot be granted on plant and animal varieties or on the conventional breeding of plants and animals. At present, the European Patent Office (EPO) is completely undermining these prohibitions. Within last months, we have collected about 800.000 signatures from people all over Europe on a petition calling for politicians to take action and properly enforce EU law. On 29 June 2016, we will be handing these signatures over to the EPO at the above venue. To emphasise our point and as a visible reminder, we will be carrying our favourite vegetables with us – tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, onions, beans, carrots and cabbage and so on …. We will be sending a very clear message: Protect our vegetables from patents held by seed giants such as Bayer and Monsanto!