Frankfurt/Main, More than 160 representatives of a thriving international non-GMO industry and leading European associations from 23 countries and four continents gathered on October 7-8, 2024 at the “International Non-GMO Summit 2024” in Frankfurt. Operators across the non-GMO value chain are united to combat the current challenges posed by the planned deregulation of new genomic techniques, as proposed by the European Commission. Summit participants sent a clear message in favor of freedom of choice and transparency.
“The non-GMO sector is here to stay! »
On behalf of the organizers, Alexandre Hissting, general manager of VLOG, emphasized: “GMO-free markets are experiencing great economic success and are thriving thanks to strong consumer support. We are ready and willing to meet today’s political and business challenges. » The organizers are convinced that NGT must be strictly regulated, like all other GMOs. Hissting’s clear message: “The GMO-free sector is here to stay!” »
High-level political support, advocating freedom of choice
The current Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) want to work towards a compromise when revising the EU’s GMO legislation guarantees labeling , consistent coexistence and traceability in the treatment of new genetic engineering techniques (NGT). In his welcome speech, Dr István Nagy, current President of the European Agriculture and Fisheries Council, said: “I am convinced that the precautionary principle must be applied when new technologies are used and organisms produced with such techniques are released into the environment and into the food chain. Furthermore, I consider it of the utmost importance to provide consumers with adequate information and to guarantee their freedom of choice.
German State Secretary Silvia Bender criticized the European Commission’s draft regulation on NGT, doubting whether it sufficiently takes into account the interests of consumers, farmers and food processors: “The market for non-GMO products is growing for years and we want to preserve this added value. To do this, we need functional coexistence measures, from seed to consumer. Our goal is to find a compromise for a socially acceptable way to handle new genetic engineering methods, and we are working on it,” Bender explained. Call to strengthen critical voices within the EU: keep Europe GMO-free
Dietmar Vybiral of the Austrian Ministry of Health provided an update on the current impasse in negotiations around the planned revision of EU GMO legislation. He explained that as EU Council ministers have not yet managed to agree on a “general approach”, trilogue negotiations between the EU’s three main institutions cannot begin. Mr. Vybiral called on Summit participants to: “strengthen critical voices within their respective governments to vote against deregulation of NGTs.” He continued: “Austria has always stated that NGT should be regulated as GMOs. Therefore, all NGT products must be subject to an appropriate risk assessment, must be labeled and have assured traceability – this is the only way to ensure consumer knowledge and freedom of choice.
The coordinator of the European DARWIN project, Odd-Gunnar Wikmark of the Norwegian Research Institute NORCE, reported on prospective research into reliable NGT detection methods. “It will be possible to develop detection methods for known varieties of NGT. And we are confident that over time, non-targeted detection methods will also be developed.”
Hans-Peter Dejakum, representative of the South Tyrolean premium wafer and chocolate producer Loackeur, believes in the importance of excluding GMOs from the company’s supply chains: “We follow the wishes of consumers in around 70 countries and we know our customers really want our non-GMO products. Over the past decade, we have invested significantly to build a credible non-GMO value chain and we are keen to continue on this path. Loacker exports its products with the Non-GMO label to more than 100 countries around the world.
Good availability of soya, rapeseed and corn – but even more potential
International experts in the field of raw material production and agricultural trade agreed that the most important regions for non-GMO products (especially soya, corn and rapeseed) currently have good market coverage – in Latin America (in particular Brazil) as well as in Europe (in particular Ukraine). There are also sufficient growth opportunities to further increase the availability of non-GMO foods and thus keep pace with growing demand. The supply of non-GMO products is assured for this year and next year, explained Bertalan Kruppa, Donau Soja, Maxime Montserrat, Élastique and Danièle Marcomin, Agro-industrie of Covolato in their presentations on the current situation of international markets.
” Keep Calm and carry on! »
Heike Moldenhauer, general secretary of ENGA, concluded the Summit on behalf of the organizers, with a clear call to the non-GMO industry present to “keep calm and carry on”. The battle for the right to continue GMO-free production is far from over, Moldenhauer said: Currently, there are virtually no new GMOs on global markets – none in the EU, just a handful in countries where new GMOs have an unregulated status. . Markets will therefore not be flooded with new GMOs in the coming years, as a glance at companies’ development pipelines shows.
In addition, the exploration of audit strategies and research on detection methods and improving traceability have accelerated. Moldenhauer is confident that significant progress will be made to exclude new GMOs from non-GMO value chains.
The International Non-GMO Summit was organized by the most important industry associations in the Non-GMO market: Verband Lebensmittel ohne Gentechnik (VLOG), ARGE Gentechnik-frei, Donau SojaEuropean Association of Non-GMO Industries (ENGA) and ProTerra Foundation .
The congress was supported by its main sponsors Caramuru, Food Chain Identifier, Köster Marine Proteins, Bunge.
Originally published in The European Times.
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