New GMOs: freedom of choice only possible through mandatory labelling, warn 49 civil society organisations
- politics and law
- Transparency and food safety
While the agri-industry lobby is pushing the European institutions to remove freedom of choice for consumers by preventing the labelling of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) obtained by New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) on our food, 49 European and national organisations, including foodwatch, are warning of the urgent need to protect consumer's rights and maintain European legislation on labelling and traceability.
On May 19, civil society organizations from across Europe co-signed a joint statement calling on European decision-makers not to give in to the siren calls and remove transparency provisions currently appying to all GMOs, for plants obtained through NGTs. Leading food chain operators, consumer advocates and farmer and environmental organisations – Corporate Europe Observatory, Demeter, GMWatch, foodwatch, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace among others – call on EU policymakers to ensure the freedom of choice by upholding mandatory labelling of new GMOs obtained by New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) as well as traceability across the entire value chain.
The trilogue process between the Council, Commission and European Parliament is in progress and the next key meeting is planned for 30 June. The European Parliament's agreed position included on-package labelling of all products containing NGTs. They must hold tight to this position and not be pushed into a compromise on consumer information, demand the signers of the statement.
„The stakes are high: it is quite simply a matter of consumers' freedom to choose whether or not to eat products made with these GMOs. The threat is real, and our political decision-makers cannot, under pressure from industrial lobbies, allow 450 million European consumers to be kept in the dark about the presence of new GMOs in food. Traceability and transparency in labelling are guaranteed by European law. We want to preserve this freedom of choice and the right to information. There is no justification for granting any exceptions on an issue as fundamental as what is grown in our fields and ends up on our plates. This new type of GMO should be labelled clearly on every product sold on the European market”, said Suzy Sumner, Head of foodwatch’s Brussels office.
The European institutions are currently discussing a new far-reaching legal proposal on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) which covers genetically modified (GM) crops and wild plants produced with new genomic techniques (NGTs), also known as “new GMOs”. The proposed law excludes new GMOs from the existing EU GMO legislation. It also excludes most new GMOs from being monitored after release, which is necessary in case problems arise for consumers or nature that were not picked up during the risk assessment.
The European Parliament position is that all products from NGT plants will still need mandatory on-package labelling. It is crucial that Parliament maintains this red line in negotiations, demand the 49 organisations. They stress that labelling and traceability of new GMO plants and products are essential requirements — not optional measures — for maintaining transparency, accountability and freedom of choice for consumers, farmers and the food sector across the whole supply chain. As it stands, the EU proposal would violate established norms of transparency in the food system and threatens public trust.
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is clear about consumers protection rights and the need for consumer information. Moreover, under EU General Food law, traceability is a fundamental and legally binding requirement. If it is to be in food, it must be regulated as a food. An appropriate regulatory approach is essential to ensure that all-GMOs are managed in a way that upholds democratic rights, freedoms, and the public interest. These principles cannot be maintained without transparency, labelling and traceability.