According to Greenpeace Hungary, the Hungarian Bioculture Association and the Hungarian Nature Conservation Association, the government must make it clear that Hungary continues to support a GMO-free agriculture sector, the organizations said on Thursday.
According to civil society groups, it was an “unexpected shift” that the Tisza MEPs voted in the European Parliament (EP) to approve the EU regulation on crops produced using new gene-editing techniques. The other Hungarian MEPs maintained their GMO-free stance, which has been a political consensus in Hungary for more than 20 years; the constitution also enshrines the right to physical and mental health through agriculture free of genetically modified organisms, they wrote.
The adopted regulation exempts a significant portion of plants produced using new gene-editing techniques from several key elements of current EU GMO regulations, meaning that they would not require authorization similar to the current system, traceability and labeling requirements would be weakened, and in many cases, consumers would not be able to know if they are consuming food produced using a new genetic modification technique, they added. According to the three organizations, this runs counter to the precautionary principle, consumers’ right to information, and the interests of organic and GMO-free farmers.
According to the statement, they find it particularly concerning that the new regulations could further strengthen the market positions of large agricultural biotechnology companies and seed companies, while farmers’ and consumers’ room for maneuver could be restricted. In addition to taking a stand against GMOs, civil society groups are calling on the government to join other member states in appealing to the Court of Justice of the European Union to have the regulation annulled. There will be little time to do so once the regulation takes effect, so the necessary legal and diplomatic preparations must begin immediately.
The legislation on new gene manipulation techniques was adopted by the EP on Wednesday. Under the new rules, plants will no longer be classified according to the way they were produced, but rather according to their genetic characteristics after modification.
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