Under the guise of the war in Ukraine, a group of Italian MPs are calling on the government to open up the cultivation of the new GMOs. This is denounced by the GMO-Free Italy Coalition – of which our Égalité onlus is a member – which highlights the illegality of the clumsy initiative.
New GMOs, the blitz
On 11.5.22 the House of Representatives passed several motions calling on the government to take urgent measures under the pretext of coping with the impacts of the war in Ukraine on our economy.
Among these, the call is for action on the agricultural sector and ‘Take initiatives to develop, promote and encourage …. new technologies applicable in agriculture for genetic improvement based, for example, on cisgenesis and genome editing, … and, therefore, to promote regulatory initiatives that enable the full development of assisted evolution technologies (ATEs), including with the involvement of national research institutes and university institutions’.
Illegal proposal
The deputies’ request is blatantly illegal.
‘Following up on these demands would go against not only Italian legislation in place since 2000, but also European legislation .
EU Directive 2001/18 – thanks to the European Court of Justice ruling of July 2018 – includes organisms obtained through new varietal creation techniques (referred to as NBT, NGT or TEA), considering them GMOs for all purposes and obligating them to prior risk assessment, traceability and labeling‘, explains the GMO-Free Italy Coalition.
A business for the few
Failure to comply with the decision of the European Court of Justice, and circumvention of the European directive currently in force, would risk producing gigantic economic damage to Italian agriculture, and especially to the organic sector. Damage that is difficult to quantify and irreversible.
All to ensure the advantage of a few Italian seed companies and, above all, of the multinational corporations that dominate the world market, already in possession of almost all the patents necessary for the development of the new GMOs.
Syngenta’s attack
The MPs’ proposal comes on the heels of a frontal attack on organic farming by the CEO of Syngenta, one of the four largest multinational agrochemical and seed companies on the Planet, who said that‘In the face of the threat of a global food crisis, it is necessary to give up organic farming.
‘A baseless and dangerousstatement for a fast-growing model of production and consumption, which has led Italy to be today a leading country in the sector in the EU and in the world,’ the Coalition stresses.
More organic, never GMO
Organic is worth 7.5 billion in Italy, and organic farms cultivate 17 percent of the agricultural land used in our country. ‘With a European target calling for 25% by 2030, we start from a vantage point that it would be foolhardy to lose in favor of GMOs, by whatever technique they are obtained.
The huge majority of consumers-despite the crises that continue to pile up in our country-refuses to have GMO products on their plates, demands clear and transparent labeling that allows them to know, and therefore choose, with certainty what they are eating‘.
The solution is agroecology
The associations of the GMO-Free Italy Coalition warn the government and Parliament against following up on the demands contained in the acts proposed in the House to prevent the destruction of GMO-free agriculture that guarantees higher quality products and greater protection of ecosystems.
On the contrary of what was proposed in the House, Italy should also improve the position of small-scale farmers in the supply chain, protecting typical productions and encouraging the development of agroecology: with this choice it risks instead pushing them out of the market, clearing genetically modified productions, which are characterized by uniformity and which will not have the miraculous impact that has always-against all evidence-been attributed to them.
Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) The motions presented have as first signatories Honorable Cillis, Viviani, Incerti, Spena, Gadda, Ripani, Fornaro, Gagnarli and were signed by Honorable Meloni, Lollobrigida, Caretta, Ciaburro, Albano, Bellucci, Bignami, Bucalo, Butti, Caiata, Cirielli, De Toma, Deidda, Delmastro Delle Vedove, Donzelli, Ferro, Foti, Frassinetti, Galantino, Gemmato, Lucaselli, Mantovani, Maschio, Mollicone, Montaruli, Osnato, Prisco, Rampelli, Rizzetto, Rotelli, Giovanni Russo, Rachele Silvestri, Silvestroni, Trancassini, Varchi, Vinci, Zucconi.
Cover image from François Maret, le myblog https://bit.ly/3FWIw0X
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
