Organic farmers urge European Parliament to uphold ban on NGTs to support healthy food systems

20 Oct 2023 --- IFOAM Organics Europe (IFOAM) is demanding that the European Parliament maintain its ban on all New Genetic Techniques (NGTs) in organic farming. Concerns have arisen after the responsible rapporteur in the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) proposed to remove the ban on Category 1 NGTs.

The European organic food and farming association is also worried that seed labeling provisions have been deleted in the draft report. Seed labeling provisions would have been a starting point for transparency at the breeding level, the association claims.

“NGTs will have a far-reaching impact on European agriculture and food — a thorough discussion is needed. Changing the regulation on the use of genetic engineering in food is not a decision that should be rushed or taken lightly,” Silvia Schmidt, policy manager at IFOAM, tells Food Ingredients First.

“Banning old and new Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in organic is crucial because organic and GMO-free operators should have the right to produce GMO-free. This condition can only be effective if accompanied by the legal and technical means, which must be embedded in the NGT regulation, rather than in the EU Organic Regulation as some proponents of NGT deregulation argue.”

Risks and rewards
In June 2023, an overwhelming majority of the European organic movement reaffirmed that the organic production process should remain free of GMOs. As the European Commission’s proposal reflects, the use of gene-editing technologies is not aligned with the principles of organic agriculture.Organic farmers want the European Parliament to provide legal support by banning NGTs in organic produce.

According to IFOAM, a clear and well-discussed NGT legislation would provide legal clarity and establish essential safeguards for GMO-free production. Besides freedom of choice for producers and consumers, using NGTs in food production could lead to unintended effects, potential risks and conflicts with the precautionary principle, it argues.

However, GMO advocates point to the potential environmental benefits of NGT farming at a time of heightened climate change fears. PG Economics has claimed that crop biotechnology enables farmers to produce more using fewer resources, which can be especially beneficial in developing countries.

The agricultural consultancy found that crop biotechnology has contributed to significantly reducing the release of GHGs from agricultural practices, resulting from less fuel use and additional soil carbon storage from reduced tillage. 

“In 2012, this was equivalent to removing 27 billion kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or equal to removing 11.9 million cars from the road for one year,” it says.

But IFOAM reiterates that the organic movement is against reopening the EU Organic Regulation as this would “open the door to undesired changes of other aspects of the long-negotiated regulation.”

“On top of that, it would also prevent much-needed legal clarity and prevent establishing essential safeguards for GMO-free production,” says Schmidt.

Seed labeling transparency
Meanwhile, the organic movement is also concerned with the elimination of the seed labeling provisions from the European Parliament’s draft report. “As seeds are the basis of life, our concerns around the potential reversal of the NGT ban are also relevant to the seed legislation,” Schmidt tells us.GMO supporters suggest that NGTs can help combat climate change.

“In addition, an important aspect for organic farmers regarding seeds is to have more diverse organic Plant Reproductive Material (seeds and vegetative propagation material) and harmonized and true access to a wider range of cultivars adapted to regional climatic and organic growing conditions.”

“Seed labeling is a first step in creating transparency for breeders and farmers.”

IFOAM urges policymakers to uphold the ban on all GMOs, including Category 1 NGT genetically modified plants in organic production, in the ENVI committee report, claiming that the continued growth of the organic food and farming movement in Europe is vital for a transition to healthy and sustainable food systems.

By Joshua Poole