Aegilops, SITO and Greenpeace Greece have sent an open letter to the new Rural Development and Food Minister, Margaritis Schinas. It concerns forthcoming votes at the EU Council of Ministers on 21 April and, later, in the European Parliament plenary on a regulation that the organisations say would remove safety checks for category 1 plants produced using New Genomic Techniques (NGT1).
The organisations call on Schinas and the Greek government to reject the proposed regulation, arguing that it would allow new genetically modified organisms onto the market without safety testing or labelling. They say a Greek vote against it on 21 April would protect consumers, farmers, future generations and the country’s sovereignty over its biological resources.
In their assessment, the regulation promotes intensive chemical agriculture and would permit patented NGT1 organisms to be grown in Europe and Greece without risk assessment, labelling or traceability rules. Consumers would not know what they were eating or be able to choose. The groups warn that pollen transfer could contaminate conventional and organic crops, since nature recognises no borders. They also argue that patents could increase food prices and create legal and financial risks for the agrifood sector, with the costs of preventing contamination and certifying traceability passed to consumers. Greece could lose rights over distinctive characteristics of traditional varieties if their genetic sequences were patented, they say. They further contend that the regulation would remove the country’s right to prohibit cultivation where ecosystems were at risk.
The organisations note that genetically modified plants are currently not grown in 25 of the EU’s 27 member states. They say Schinas’s previous role as European Commission vice-president for Promoting our European Way of Life gives them hope that he will take concerns about European citizens’ right to choose seriously. Amid successive global crises, including the loss of life in conflicts such as those in the Middle East, energy instability and worsening food insecurity, they argue that Greece should support sustainable local agriculture without genetically modified crops.
The groups recall their campaign 20 years ago to keep Greece free of genetically modified cultivation and say unity is needed again. They advocate seasonal, local food from small producers who respect the land. A production and trading model that empowers such growers, retains existing safety and transparency rules for new genetically modified plants and places strict limits on food waste is needed to provide safe, sufficient and healthy food for everyone, they say.
With a European Parliament plenary vote expected shortly afterwards, in May, Greenpeace Greece has launched a petition expressing the concerns of scientists, citizens and organisations about relaxing the current legislation. It can be viewed here.
Citizens can also send a message to Greece’s 21 MEPs through the Aegilops campaign and SITO Network website.
