Let’s Liberate Diversity! News
New genomic techniques passed EU parliament! Press releases from ECVC and FoE
The European Parliament confirmed its support for the deregulation of patented GMOs/NGTs, and opened the door to their dissemination without any traceability through the regulation on seeds marketing
On 24 April 2024, all MEPs voted on two files that are absolutely essential for peasants’ rights on seeds and the future of European agriculture, in particular the GMO-free agricultural sector and peasant agroecology.
In a recent press release, the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) strongly condemned the European Parliament’s vote in favor of deregulating genetically modified organisms (GMOs) obtained through new genomic techniques (NGTs). Despite unresolved issues such as the extension of patents, violation of the precautionary principle, and lack of essential information from European agencies, the Parliament proceeded with the vote, disregarding concerns raised by peasant organizations and the GMO-free agricultural sector.
The ECVC press release is available here: https://liberatediversity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/25-04-2024-PR-NGT-and-PRM-Votes-EP-Plenary-EN.pdf
Friends of the Earth Europe (FoE) also criticized the decision, highlighting its detrimental effects on food and environmental safety. The approved legislative proposal exempts new GMOs from safety checks and reduces the liability of corporations selling them, undermining the precautionary principle in EU policymaking and leaving a significant gap in regulatory coverage.
The press release from FoE is available here: https://friendsoftheearth.eu/press-release/eu-parliament-vote-on-new-gmos-a-blow-to-food-environmental-safety/
Results of the European Parliament vote on Plant Reproductive Materials
Vote on EU seed law: Industry attack on diversity largely defeated EU Parliament votes in favour of farmers’ right to seeds – but fails to strengthen the preservation of local and traditional varieties
text adopted available:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0341_EN.html
Schiltern, Vienna, Strasbourg – 24 April 2024, the plenary of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg voted on the new EU seed law. ARCHE NOAH takes a mixed view of the decision on new rules for the production and marketing of seeds and other plant propagating material. Despite aggressive lobbying by the seed industry and its lobby group Euroseeds in recent days, a majority of MEPs supported the constructive proposal of the Agriculture Committee in almost all points.
“With today’s decision, the European Parliament has recognised that seed diversity is vital for our farmers,”
Magdalena Prieler, seed expert at ARCHE NOAH
The European Parliament’s decision safeguards the age-old tradition and the right of farmers to exchange small quantities of their own propagating material with each other for free or for monetary compensation – a practice that has been practised for generations and strengthens resilience and independence in agriculture. The resolution also grants farmers continued access to traditional varieties such as the old tomato variety Rotes Herz, the Steinfelder Tellerlinse, Laaer Zwiebel and Laufener Landweizen. It also frees them, as well as conservation initiatives, from new bureaucratic regulations. All these points in the report by Herbert Dorfmann, the rapporteur in the responsible Committee on Agriculture, were strongly opposed by the seed industry. Nevertheless, they were ultimately supported by the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left, as well as parts of the European People’s Party and the liberal Renew Group.
However, the industry lobby has prevailed on one point that is essential for saving traditional and local varieties. The transfer of endangered varieties for the purpose of their conservation should have been exempted from the scope of seed law. This possibility has now been severely restricted. Only established conservation organisations are now allowed to make use of this exception.
“Many actors in Europe contribute to saving the diversity of varieties, including local seed producers, individual farmers, but also public initiatives such as seed libraries. Today’s decision failed to create a clear legal framework for this work which is so important to society as whole. This is disappointing and unacceptable.”
Magdalena Prieler, seed expert at ARCHE NOAH
The industry claimed this exemption would lead to “uncontrolled parallel markets”. In reality, it was about the transfer of very small quantities, for example 500 grams of vegetable seed per year. “The industry used scaremongering and false arguments to persuade MEPs to reject the recommendation of the specialist committee. Diversification and variety on the field are the most effective tools we have to mitigate the negative effects of the climate crisis in agriculture, such as extreme weather conditions or new diseases and pests.”
ARCHE NOAH and other seed initiatives from all over Europe have contacted MEPs in recent days to inform them about the threat to diversity and to demand farmers’ right to seeds. “We would like to thank our supporters who have made this campaign possible and all those who have sent seed packets to the EU Parliament or called MEPs themselves in the last few days and weeks,” says Prieler.
This work will continue after today’s vote. The decision now forms the basis for the European Parliament’s negotiations in the trialogue with the EU Commission and the Council of Agriculture Ministers on the final legislative text. Negotiations are not expected to begin until the end of 2024. A progress report by the Belgian Council Presidency and a discussion by the EU Agriculture Ministers is planned for the last Council meeting before the summer break, on 24 and 25 June 2024. “We call on the Council of EU Agriculture Ministers to resist the pressure from the seed industry. We need a secure basis for a sustainable, resilient and diverse food system,” says Magdalena Prieler from ARCHE NOAH. “Agriculture Ministers must actively ensure that local varieties, regional cuisine and farmers’ right to seeds are not jeopardised by global corporations.”
To know more about seed policy processes in the European Union, have a look at the Seed Policy Guide developed by EC-LLD in collaboration with Arche Noah and Kybele through the Seeding Europe Erasmus+project
Resilient Seed Systems: Shared Action Framework
The Global Alliance for the Future of Food summarised the output of a stakeholders workshop in Mexico and subsequent inputs into a framework for shared action on resilient seed systems.
The framework attempts a definition of resilient seed systems around the following principles:
- Diverse
- Complex and dynamic
- Equitable and right-based
- Renewable
- Healthy
- Interdependent
- Intergenerational
and provides a brainstorming tool for strategic action at the local, national and global levels along the following dimensions:
- Policy and advocacy
- Research and education
- Platform and alliances
- Communcation
- Financing
Via Campesina stands behind ANSES’ analysis of new GMOs proposal
The Via Campesina stated in a press release “The Parliament and Council cannot adopt a law that goes against scientific opinion and, what’s more, unworkable in practice. They must therefore demand a clarification of this scientific controversy before resuming their work.”
The European Coordination of the movement pointed out that no official European agency was asked to give an opinion on the scientific relevance of the Commission’s proposal on new GMOs. French ANSES was the only agency independently to look into the matter and they questioned its scienfic basis. Therefore, ECVC called on the European Parliament and the European Council to suspend their examination of the GMO-NTG deregulation proposal, also in view of the lack of consensus about patenting in the Council of the EU.
Read the ECVC January 2024 press release.
More on the position of the Via Campesina on the EU Commission proposal on new GMOs:
ECVC November 2023 statement on new GMOs and patents.
ECVC October 2023 call for rejection of the EU Commission proposal on plant reproductive material.
ITPGRFA Report and Resolutions of the 10th Session
The tenth session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on the Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) was held in November 2023 and the report and resolutions adopted has now been published.
All documents concerning the tenth session are available on FAO website.
Organic Heterogeneous Material: new operators’ tutorial
A new tool has become available on the Organic Farm Knowledge portal produced by Seed4all and Artemisia, which explains the new Organic Heterogeneous Material (OHM) regulations, and indicates how new operators can enter this new and important market to support agrobiodiversity.
OHM is a new category of seeds which can be used in organic farming in the EU, but also for home gardening and of course adopted in conventional farming if desired.
Because OHM is not a variety, or a mix of varieties, Plants Breeders’ Rights (PBR) do not apply to OHM. The new regime for OHM also derogates from the existing EU legislation on the marketing of seeds; therefore, operators do not need to be registered to sell seeds and they can sell OHM belonging to any of the categories covered in the 11 sectoral directives on seed marketing,
Watch the video for all the details:
EU Seed reform under scrutiny: Unpacking criticisms and concerns from ECLLD members
On 5 July 2023, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive Seed Law Reform with the aim of updating the legislation on the production and marketing of plant reproductive material (PRM). While this proposal seeks to enhance the regulatory framework and support sustainable agriculture, it has sparked debates and concerns among stakeholders regarding its potential impacts on agrobiodiversity management.
The key point of the reform have been summarised by Réseau Semences Paysannes (RSP) and is available here (in French)
Concerns on the EU Seed reform
Arche Noah, a prominent advocate for crop diversity, recently published a briefing outlining how the proposed EU seed regulation might pose challenges to preserving and exchanging diverse seeds.
The proposed legislation would make it impossible to build a “seed infrastructure” for sustainable agriculture, as it restricts the conservation and further development of diversity, and pushes back local innovation.
Arche Noah Briefing
Below are the key points raised by Arche Noah in their briefing:
- Restriction on Transfer of Cultivated Plant Diversity: The proposed regulation restricts the free transfer of plant genetic resources for conservation, introducing bureaucratic hurdles that hinder farmers and seed organizations from preserving and selling endangered diversity.
- Failure to Implement Farmers’ Right to Seed: The proposal introduces arbitrary restrictions on farmers, limiting their ability to exchange and sell their own seeds, contradicting their internationally recognized right to save, use, and exchange seeds.
- Inadequate Measures for Widening Access to Diverse Varieties: While the proposal removes restrictions on marketing diverse varieties, it introduces impractical requirements that may hinder small producers from making these seeds available.
- Lack of Focus on Sustainable Agriculture: The proposal’s approach to seed testing falls short in ensuring sustainability, as it does not mandate testing under organic or low-input conditions.
- Positive Impact on Hobby Gardeners: The proposal includes exemptions for hobby gardeners, allowing private seed exchange and sale without mandatory variety certification, recognizing their unique needs and interests.
The full briefing is available here
Furthermore, the Umbrella Association for Crop and Livestock Diversity in German-speaking countries (Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e.V.) has also expressed in a press release significant concerns about the proposal’s shortcomings and potential negative impacts on biodiversity preservation.
The EU Commission’s aim to conserve agricultural plant diversity with the new seed legislation is
welcome – however, the EU Commission’s proposal contains such significant shortcomings that it is
likely to even lead to the contrary, to a loss of biodiversitySusanne Gura – Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e.V.
Susanne Gura, representing Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e.V., highlights the following concerns:
- Limited Exemptions for Diversity Conservation: Exemptions for diversity conservation apply only to formal networks and organizations, overlooking the role of individuals like gardeners and farmers in on-farm conservation.
- Challenges with Unregistered Varieties and Seed Saving: Requirements for registering as operators may discourage seed-saving practices, impacting conservation efforts in home gardens and small farms.
- Restriction on Farmers’ Rights to Sell Farm-Saved Seeds: The proposal restricts farmers from selling seeds of diversity varieties, potentially affecting biodiversity conservation.
- Misalignment with International Objectives: The proposed regulation may not fully align with international objectives for plant genetic resources and peasants’ rights.
- Call for Adequate Legislation to Encourage Conservation Work: The association urges governments to ensure adequate legislation that encourages farmers and gardeners to continue on-farm conservation work, preserving cultural heritage and supporting agriculture in the face of global warming.
For the full text from Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e.V. have a look here
The European Coordination Let’s Liberate Diversity! (ECLLD) continues to facilitate discussions and exchanges on the new EU seed reform. Stay tuned for ongoing updates.
Joint Letter to the European Commission on the EU Seed Marketing Legislation
Ahead of the upcoming reform of the seed marketing legislation, a number of diverse actors in the conservation, dynamic management, development, production and use of cultivated plant diversity from across Europe sent a letter to the European Commission to make sure their proposal genuinely advances the transition to a sustainable food system, remaining true to the goals set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy, the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, and the EU’s climate commitments.
In particular, given that seeds are the foundation of our food systems, and that the new legislation will have impacts beyond the EU itself, the signatories highlighted the need for:
- The facilitation of the transition to more sustainable and resilient food systems;
- An enabling environment for the conservation and development of cultivated plant diversity;
- Facilitated access to the market for cultivated plant diversity;
- Clear information for consumers.
Genetic engeneering endangers the protection of species
In view of the upcoming EU proposal of updated rules on plants produced with New Genomic Techniques (NGTs, NBTs), Test Biotech released in 2020 report: “Genetic engeneering endangers the protection of species“.
After briefly introducing the concept of New Genomic Techniques, the document proceeds to situate Genetic Engineering in the context of evolution concluding that:
The biosphere we all inhabit is based on a multidimensional network of interactions. Genetic information is not the only decisive element for the physiological characteristics of organisms, it is also decisive for signalling pathways, behaviour, instincts, their symbioses and the emergence of complex structures within populations, e.g. superorganisms building communities.
There is absolutely no plausibility in the assumption that human intelligence can, with the help of genetic engineering, intervene in the complex foundations of life in a safe and predictable way.
Christoph Then, 2022, p.23
In particular, the authors argue that the precautionary principle should be applied to the introduction of lab- produced organisms in the environment, as risk assessment is unlikely to take into consideration the following aspects of ecosystem evolution:
- genetic stability in following generations,
- interactions with the genetic background, and
- interactions with the environment that effect the genome
(see table below for details).
Video
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