Federal Assembly stops Genetic Engineering in Seeds
Sweeping success for the "Save Our Seeds" appeal to the cabinet of the German states and the federal government against the removal of the purity law for seeds. With a strong majority, the Federal Assembly rejected a proposal on March 18th from the German states Niedersachsen, Baden-Württemberg, and Schleswig-Holstein. These states tried to reform the strict no tolerance law for genetic engineering in seeds, with intentions of enacting GM technology for "economic, practical, and technological solutions". 70 activists delieved 65,000 signatures in a last appeal outside of the Federal Assembly building.
This action was a success. The Assembly stated, "Agriculture must rely on proper seed, and in case of damage, compensation must be paid to farmers. It must be therefore made clear in the Gene Technology Law that seed purity will be guaranteed by growers and those introducing new seeds for the first time."
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Success: With a large majority, the heads of the state governments have declared purity for conventional seeds and protection of the land as more important than genetic impurity. The proposals of Lower Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, and Schleswig-Holstein, which planned for a removal of the strict purity law, were only agreed upon by these three states. In the morning about 100 activists stood before the Federal Assembly building to call upon the minister president and support the representatives of Rheinland-Pfalz, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, and Berlin. All week long the activists have demonstrated in Berlin in defense of No Tolerance for GE in seeds.
Press Release
Press Release from SOS and Campact
In only a few days more than 53,000 people have signed the online petition no to genetic engineering in seeds. They demanded their state governments to institute GE free policy in seeds. Three states wanted to condone the genetic impurty in conventional seeds. The agriculture ministers of Baden-Würtemmberg, Lower Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein, all CDU, have introduced a new bill into the Federal Assembly. This proposal held that GMOs in seeds are an economic, practical, and techological solution.
An alliance of organizations, ecological farmers unions, and genetic technology-free regions mobilized on the website saatgut-retten.de for the preservation of the No Tolerance policy. In Bremen, members of the alliance demonstrated in front of the Federal Assembly. Further actions are planned to take place in Hamburg, Schwerin, and Stuttgart, as well as on Friday in Berlin in front of the Federal Assembly. Christoph Bautz from the participating campaign network Campact stated, 3 states are working as sidekicks for the genetic engineering industry, allowing genetic technolgy sneak into our food supply. When GM impurity is allowed in seeds, our entire agricultural land is threatened by contamination.
The 19 Organizations and Intiatives demand the removal of seed impurity from the food supply. "Seeds are the beginning and end of our nutrition and agriculture. Technologcal tricks like smuggling GMOs into the food supply against the consumer's will and harming the land will have dire consequences. The No Tollerance policy must be kept in effect without any ifs or buts," says Benedikt Härlin from Save Our Seeds.
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