Testbiotech has published a comprehensive analysis of the EU Commission proposal for the future deregulation of new GM plants. Currently, all organisms derived from genetic engineering processes must undergo risk assessment before they can be released, cultivated or consumed as food. The Commission now wants to abandon this basic principle of EU legislation. Testbiotech is warning against such far-reaching deregulation. Most new GM plants will in future simply need to be registered and will not be subject to the mandatory risk assessment currently required. New GM plants will be legally equated with conventionally bred plants (deregulated) even if they are biologically different. The new legislation would not only apply to annual crops. Wild, non-domesticated species, such as trees, wild herbs, grasses, mosses or algae, which can also spread in particularly sensitive ecosystems, could also be approved for release into the environment without further controls. The consequences for nature and the environment would not be monitored, and there would be no concepts or measures for removing new GM plants from the environment if this became necessary. Testbiotech

 

 

The Hungarian government has rejected the proposal of the European Commission to abolish the right of self-determination of Member States and the labelling obligation of plants produced with new genetic engineering techniques. The Ministry of Agriculture said, "The country is strongly committed to GMO-free agriculture. It is reflected by the new Fundamental Law, entering into effect in 2012, setting the goal of ensuring GMO-free food and agriculture in Hungary." Hungary Today

 

 

Staff on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have heard testimony from a whistleblower alleging that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offered six analysts significant monetary incentives to change their position on COVID-19’s origin. The whistleblower, who presents as a highly credible senior-level CIA officer, alleges that of the seven members assigned to the CIA team tasked with analysing COVID-19 origins, six officers concluded that the virus likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China. The CIA, then however, allegedly offered financial incentives to six of the experts involved in the investigation to change their conclusion in favour of a zoonotic origin. Committee on Oversight

 

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