European Parliament approves the deregulation of GMO-NGT plants, but the struggle of European peasant farmers does not stop there

This new GMO-NGT regulation removes all current requirements on the release of GMO plants in Europe (Directive 2001/18/EC). This strict regulation, which includes labelling and traceability, was adopted in the early 2000s thanks to a large mobilization of farmers and citizens. "Today, the European Parliament voted against the interests of farmers and citizens, giving its vote to multinational seed and biotech companies, which have been pushing for years to deregulate these GMOs and impose the patent model in Europe," said Alessandra Turco of ECVC’s Coordinating Committee.

The patent issue has been at the heart of these negotiations, as it is the main concern of farmers and small and medium-sized seed breeders when it comes to this new regulation. There are currently very few plants obtained by NGTs available on the market, and those are very far from fulfilling the promises of sustainability announced to justify this proposal, but these new genomic techniques are however all patented. Without traceability of GMO-NGTs, these patents can extend to conventionally bred plants.

The European Parliament ignored these legitimate concerns by failing to adopt a series of key amendments seeking to clarify European patent law (Directive 98/44/EC). These amendments aimed to prevent farmers and seed companies from being abusively prosecuted for patent infringement, in the event of accidental contamination, or if their conventional seeds naturally contain a trait similar to those obtained by new genomic techniques, which are patented. “Without this necessary change in patent law, the new NGT Regulation will pave the way for the widespread privatisation of genetic resources by a handful of seed companies. This will be a disaster for agricultural biodiversity and for peasant farmers, who will have a hard time finding seeds that are non-patented and suited to their farming practices" said Jean Thévenot of ECVC’s Coordinating Committee.

However, the struggle of peasant farmers and agri-food, beekeeping, environmental and consumer protection organisations does not end here. This new regulation is legally and scientifically shaky. Its incompatibility with certain provisions of the European Treaties and with the European Union’s international obligations on the regulation of GMOs (Cartagena Protocol) are weaknesses that will make it possible to challenge this unacceptable deregulation. ECVC calls on the EU Member States which have opposed this deregulation to launch proceedings to annul the regulation before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The peasant movement will remain mobilised to prevent the implementation of this dangerous regulation and will pursue all available legal options.