Brussels, 19 January 2024
Subject: ENVI Vote 24th of January 2024 - Deregulation of new GMOs opens the door for herbicide-tolerant and pesticide-producing plants - danger to health and environment
Dear Member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,
On the 24th of January, you are invited to vote on the Proposal for a Regulation on plants obtained by new genomic techniques (NGT) and their food and feed in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. With this letter PAN Europe would like to share its deep concerns about the current proposal and many of the amendments tabled so far, which contain extensive shortcomings. They will in their current form inevitably lead to unacceptable risks for human health and the environment. They would also have far-reaching negative impacts on rights of farmers, producers, retailers, consumers and public authorities.
Citizens have repeatedly expressed to be massively against deregulation of NGTs/GMOs, and insist on clear labelling1. For example, in a recent Forsa poll, 96% of those surveyed were in favour of a safety check of plants that have been genetically modified using new processes. 92% are of the opinion that genetically modified foods must be labelled, regardless of whether new processes or classic genetic engineering were used [2].
