MEPs vote for tighter GM-contamination rules for organic
Posted by Susan Ponsolle on 04-06-07MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) last week backed an amendment to the new UE Organic Regulation that would reduce the threshold of accidental GM contamination of organic food from 0.9% to 0.1%. The European Parliament also called on the Commission to adopt stricter overall rules on GMOs which would see the ‘polluter pays’ principle applied to GM farmers found responsible for contaminating the food chain.
Though the MEPs’ amendments are not binding on the European Commission the EU agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, reacted positively to vote: “Parliament has proposed a range of amendments which improve the original proposal and the Commission will take them on board.”
The EC’s intention to treat organic food in the same way as conventional food in respect of accidental GM contamination has been a major source of concern for the organic sector and environment groups. At the recent Biofach exhibition in Germany a new alliance of campaigners — known as ‘No to GMO contaminated organic food’ campaign — was formed to challenge the Commission head-on over the issue. At the launch of the campaign the senior advisor to the Green Party in the European Parliament, Hannes Lorenzen, said that MEPs were determined to exert their full rights on the issue of GMOs.
Welcoming last week’s vote by MEPs, Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, said: "David Miliband must now scrap the UK government proposal to allow almost 1% GM contamination of organic food. His pro-GM position had been criticised by 74 major organic businesses, because people who eat organic food want to avoid all GM.
"The European Parliament has reached the right decision in line with what the people of Europe want. This decision guarantees a healthy, GM-free future for the rapidly growing number of organic farmers in the UK."
The Soil Association points out that the European Parliament position is mirrored by an all-party motion in the House of Commons tabled by the conservative front bench, which calls for the minimum, 0.1%, contamination of organic.
Source: Natural Products Online
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