In a joint statement, more than 200 organisations bringing together small-scale and organic breeders, farmers’ organisations, food retailers, and civil society groups —including Save Our Seeds — have urged the EU institutions to reject the proposed deregulation of gene-edited plants.
We call on the European institutions to stop the planned deregulation of plants developed using new genetic technologies (NGT), in particular CRISPR/Cas.
As the Polish government, which holds the EU presidency, pushes ahead with various compromises to finally get a qualified majority of member states for deregulation, we detail six major concerns, in addition to environmental and health risks and consumer choice:
(1) Patents on life leading to biopiracy.
(2) Increased legal uncertainty for breeders and farmers and increased risk of lawsuits
against them, putting their business in danger.
(3) Threat to the viability and existence of the organic and GMO free economic sectors.
(4) Irreversible increase of farmers’ dependence on few seed companies with expected
increase in their production costs.
(5) Less seed diversity adapted to local conditions and climate change and risks to
food security.
(6) Likely increase of the EU’s food chain vulnerability.
