On 29 November Dutch and Belgian farmers, farmers' associations and environmental organisations headed to Brussels to protest against the European legislative proposal that seeks to completely deregulate new GMOs made with techniques such as CRISPR/Cas. If these plans go ahead, the freedom of choice for farmers and consumers to work and eat GMO-free will disappear. In the European Commission's proposal, new genetic engineering techniques such as CRISPR/Cas are no longer given a risk assessment. As a consequence, they would be used freely, without any tracing or labelling. "People will no longer know whether they are getting GMOs on their plates," said organic farmer Greet Lambrecht of the farmers' association Vitale Rassen vzw. "Even organic farmers and others, who consciously work GMO-free, will lose that freedom of choice. However, this is crucial. If Europe is serious about the growth of organic agriculture, it must offer watertight guarantees that the organic sector can continue to work GMO-free. The current proposal does not offer that guarantee." GMWatch

 

 

In a letter sent on 28 November 2023 to the French President and Prime Minister, thirteen agricultural and environmental organisations have called on the French President and the French Prime Minister to address the risks associated with the European regulation on new GMOs. In a press release, Greenpeace France said: "Negotiations on this draft regulation are accelerating for no other reason than to impose new GMOs on the European market, taking organisations and citizens by storm. Presented by the European Commission on 5 July 2023, it will be on the agenda of the next meeting of European agriculture ministers on 10 and 11 December, and should be voted on by the European Parliament in less than two months' time. This text contains elements that will structure the future of the European agricultural and food system. It will have major consequences for all citizens, and must absolutely be the subject of public debate. This draft regulation has been rejected by the majority of consumers, by farmers and by the organic sector." [GMW: This article contains a timeline for key votes relating to the GMO deregulation proposal.] GMWatch

 

 

Speaking at an online press conference, Jan Plagge, President of IFOAM Organics Europe, called on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and Member States to respect organic farmers and operators’ choice to not use new genomic techniques (NGTs) and maintain the ban on the use of NGTs in organic production as laid out in the Commission’s proposal. Bernard Lignon, IFOAM Organics Europe Board member and sector representative for processing and trade, called on policymakers to include full traceability on the use of NGTs in the production chain and the possibility for coexistence measures at national level in the legislative proposal. Jan Plagge said: “In June, the overwhelming majority of the European organic movement voted to remain GMO-free, as reflected in the Commission’s proposal. It would be shocking if MEPs decided to delete the ban of NGTs in organic production and impose the use of NGTs to all producers in Europe, organic or not. Exempting certain NGTs from risk assessment and traceability would have important consequences for the food production sector in Europe, much beyond the organic market, and these discussions should not be rushed, neither in the European Parliament nor among the Member States in the Council.” IFOAM

 

 

Pesticides commonly used on farmland significantly harm bumblebees, according to a new study spanning 106 sites across eight European countries. While the agricultural use of insecticides has been in the spotlight for negative effects on bees, there are gaps in scientists' knowledge about how the effects scale beyond single substances in fields. In the new study, researchers answered recent calls for a more realistic assessment of the risks posed by mixtures of commonly used pesticides at landscape scales. The findings, published in Nature, show that despite regulation, the use of approved pesticides in European agricultural landscapes still negatively affects non-target organisms — significantly reducing the colony performance of bumblebees, a key wild and commercial pollinator. Bumblebee colonies exposed to these pesticides saw significant reductions in total colony production (the number of cocoons); maximum colony weight; and the number of new queens. The scientists concluded that "the regulatory system fails to sufficiently prevent pesticide-related impacts on non-target organisms". Irish Examiner

 

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