EU lobbying and rule-making around GM food could be influenced by developments in the UK, campaigners have warned. A recent report commissioned by the Greens and authored by GMWatch editor Claire Robinson accused EU-based scientists and researchers of “actively lobbying” for deregulation, while maintaining “direct or indirect vested and undisclosed interests in the marketing of plants derived from those techniques”. “The lobby for deregulating new GM techniques should be taken seriously, based on what is happening in the UK, where government is in the process of removing regulatory controls around gene editing technology in food and farming,” said Claire Robinson. [GMW: This article is behind a paywall but you may be able to access the archived version here.] The Grocer

 

 

Like “big pharma” the global agricultural chemical companies run very sophisticated marketing and sponsorship networks that reach into almost every facet of rural life. German multinational Bayer, Swiss based Syngenta, Canadian based Nutrien, Adama (owned by Syngenta) US based Corteva (formerly Dow Dupont chemicals) and Australian company Nufarm contribute millions, if not billions, in support for rural activities. They subsidise agronomists in rural towns. They provide scholarships at agricultural schools and fund farm safety programmes. They even fund government bodies, including – most controversially – providing 90% of the budget for Australia’s pesticides regulator, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, which operates on a user-pays basis. The Guardian

 

 

In future, the use of pesticides by European farmers is to be recorded annually. The European Parliament has approved the relevant new Regulation on Statistics on Agricultural Inputs and Production (SAIO). The aim of the regulation is to enable more precise statistics on agricultural inputs, including pesticides. The schedule for the new plant protection product register is as follows:
* From January 1, 2025, the regulation should come into force
* The first pesticides data will be recorded from 2026
* From 2028, the data should be collected annually and
* also be published from 2030.
The active ingredients used in agriculture will be listed according to representative crops and treated areas. [GMW: This development follows the publication last year of a scientific article demanding more transparent data on how pesticides are used on farms.] Agrarheute (German language article)

 

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