At a meeting of the EU Environment Council, seven ministers disputed Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides’ upcoming proposal to exclude a new generation of untested new GMOs, or so-called "new genomic techniques" (NGT), from the current GMO legislation. The debate on the proposal was initiated by the Austrian environment minister, who raised strong concerns about the approach taken by the European Commission and the potential harmful impacts of deregulation on nature. Mute Schimpf, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “Environment ministers have more than enough reasons to reject the Commission’s plans for new GMOs and to put its risky gamble in the spotlight. The deregulation of new GMOs could have far-reaching impacts on nature, so why throw away 20 years of essential safety regulations? We ask the Commission to listen to the ministers’ concerns and to the +400,000 EU citizens who have asked to keep their right to choose what they eat and grow.” GMWatch

 

 

Indonesia, the world’s second-largest importer of wheat, has approved the marketing of Argentina's GM wheat variety, HB4, both as animal feed and for human consumption. It was approved for “feed” last year and now has “food and feed” approval. Indonesia is the second largest buyer of Argentine wheat, after Brazil: 21.3 % of wheat exports in 2020 went to Indonesia. On the 3rd of this month, Brazil approved the cultivation, production and marketing of HB4 wheat. It was the second country, after Argentina, to allow the planting of the wheat, which is marketed as drought tolerant. News Rebeat

 

 

Mexico’s president has vowed not to back down in a dispute with the United States over a potential ban on imports of genetically modified corn. The US Trade Representative’s office announced a day earlier it had called for consultations with Mexico over proposed rules that would ban GM corn for human consumption. Mexico has said it could eventually ban it for animal feed, as well. "This is a very important issue for us,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said, adding, “it is the health of our people". Mexico had previously softened its stance, but refused to completely drop talk of any ban. AgriNews

 

 

In the coming year, we have the chance to ban the use of glyphosate in Europe. If you are in the EU, please sign the petition and join the call! Greens/EFA in the EU Parliament

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible by readers’ donations. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you!