As the European Parliament is preparing its reaction (own-initiative report) to the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, civil society organisations in the areas of environment, consumers, food systems, animal welfare, health, consumer co-operatives, farming, fisheries, development, social justice, climate, and forestry have come together to set out 10 key priorities which they call on MEPs to endorse in their report.

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Priority 7

Promote precaution and farmers’ rights before technological innovation

Related paragraphs in the draft EP own initiative report: Recital E, §3, §7, §8, §15, §25

The INI Report must adopt a precaution-first approach to innovation and focus on holistic solutions, such as agroecology, rather than on “techno-fixes” that ignore the systemic problems of our food system.

The report must call for new GMOs (or “Innovative Plant Breeding”, “New Genomic Techniques” or “New Breeding Techniques”) to remain regulated under the EU GMO regulations as decided by the European Court of Justice in 2018. The regulations ensure pre-market safety assessment and approval, traceability, and labelling which allow freedom of choice to both farmers and citizens.