Articles

The European Parliament's environment committee today voted to endorse an agreement on a new scheme for the authorisation of genetically-modified organisms in the EU. The Greens voted against the new scheme, as it would renationalise decisions about GMO cultivation instead of reforming the risk assessment process for GMOs, which is urgently needed. After the vote, Green food safety spokesperson Bart Staes said:

“This new scheme risks being a slippery slope for easing EU GMO authorisations, without providing certainty for those wanting to opt-out or say 'no' to GMOs. It fails to provide a legally watertight basis for those countries wishing to opt out and, as such, this 'renationalisation' of decisions on GMO cultivation is a Trojan horse. The agreement would also fail to ensure there are meaningful mandatory measures to prevent the contamination of non-GM crops, with the myriad of issues this raises for growers wanting to remain GM-free. More importantly, it fails to really change the fundamentally flawed EU approval process in itself.