A discussion on a final proposal by the Belgian Council Presidency to resolve deadlock on new genomic techniques (NGTs, new GMOs) legislation was removed from Wednesday’s (26 June) EU ambassadors’ meeting agenda as it failed to convince some member states, notably Poland. The decision came after EU governments could not reach the necessary majority to adopt a common position on NGT rules, sources from the Belgian Presidency said. Poland’s Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski announced a day earlier the country was unlikely to support the law despite efforts from the Belgian Presidency to address concerns over the patentability on NGT crops. “We did not have enough time to analyse the impact of this proposal,” Siekierski told journalists at a Monday’s meeting of agriculture ministers in Luxembourg. Securing Warsaw’s support would have been enough to break the stalemate and move forward with the proposal. The draft legislation is likely to be stalled at the Council for at least a year, as the Hungarian and Polish presidencies are expected to make little progress on the file. [GMW comment: This is excellent news as it means a much-needed pause in the rush to remove safety checks, traceability and labelling from the products of new GM techniques.] Euractiv

 

 

In a stunning move that has left health food advocates shaking their heads, Whole Foods Market, long celebrated as a paragon of organic and non-GMO foods, has partnered with Impossible Foods, a company that brazenly embraces GMOs in its “plant-based” meat products. This alliance not only contradicts Whole Foods’ carefully cultivated image but also raises serious concerns about the potential health risks posed by Impossible Foods’ offerings. The Organic & Non-GMO Report

 

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