Tässä kirjoituksessa myönnetään, että EU on tämän kysymyksen kanssa "puuronsilmässä":
Organic farming and gene editing: Is coexistence possible?The coexistence of gene editing with organic production systems remains a point of contention within the European Commission. While proponents of the technology maintain the two can go hand in hand, the EU’s organics sector warns coexistence requires robust traceability and liability mechanisms.
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The question of coexistence is particularly pertinent in light of the EU’s ambition to see 25% of the bloc’s farmland under organic production by 2030.
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“There is a growing number of stakeholders within the organic sector who share this view and would like the option to use conventional-like NGT plants while maintaining their organic certification,” Plant ETP wrote, noting that a significant proportion of farmers supplying the organic sector manage both organic and conventional production.
Mutta tiukka linja on luomuväellä yhä vallassa:
But while Jan Plagge, president of the EU organics association IFOAM, noted that “minority opinions” exist, he said there is a “clear majority among organic operators” who consider NGTs to be a “diversion from the systemic agroecological innovations we need to truly improve the sustainability of agriculture”.
As such, the association maintains that coexistence requires robust traceability and labelling for NGTs in the EU legislation to “guarantee all farmers the freedom not to use NGTs through mandatory traceability”.
“If the Commission’s proposal takes traceability and transparency away by assimilating NGTs to conventional breeding methods, then there is no “coexistence” possible and it would amount to imposing the use of NGTs to all farmers, organic or not,” IFOAM’s deputy director Eric Gall told EURACTIV.
Jotkut uskovat sen ongelman ratkeavan. Rahalla ja sillä, että tiedemiehet komennetaan keksimään:
However, as things currently stand, detection and traceability present a technical challenge.
To help remedy this, the EU recently opened a €10 million call for research on detection methods for products engineered with gene editing technology under its Horizon Europe funding programme.
The call, the first of its kind, aims to “contribute to ensuring traceability and authenticity, enhancing transparency and promoting innovation in the area of new genomic techniques”.
Green MEP Martin Häusling hailed the move as a welcome change from past EU research policy but complained that only a small amount of funding is available for the two projects.
