Let’s Liberate Diversity! News
Policymakers should respect the organic movement’s choice on NGTs
At the end of November, IFOAM Organics Europe issued a press release appealing to the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and Member States to respect organic farmers and operators’ choice to not use Novel Genomic Techniques (NGTs) and maintain the ban on the use of NGTs in organic production as laid out in the Commission’s proposal.
Removing the ban of NGTs would be against the position and wishes of the organic sector. Besides, exempting certain NGTs from risk assessment and traceability would not only have important consequences for the organic market, but for the whole food production sector in Europe.
IFOAM statement comes on the back of the resolution, taken at the institution’s general assembly in the summer, to favour a systemic approach to innovation and against the legitimisation of patents on plant and animals (read more), which reiterated the organic sector position paper on breeding techniques published in 2017.
Alongside the appeal, IFOAM released a briefing by the title Sustainability in organic breeding: Improving the entire system or adjusting some genes?
You can read more on the takeaways from the press release on the hidden dangers of NGTs for the EU on the website of the organisation.
Le mouvement européen des semences lance un appel : Levons nos fourchettes pour la diversité !
Bruxelles, Florence, Schiltern – Aujourd’hui, plusieurs organisations du mouvement semencier lancent la pétition à l’échelle de l’UE “Levons nos fourchettes pour la diversité !”. Elles exigent des améliorations significatives de la proposition de règlement de l’UE sur les semences présentée par la Commission européenne en juillet 2023. Les membres du Parlement européen et les ministres de l’Agriculture de l’UE sont invités à veiller à ce que les lois sur les semences soutiennent la diversité dans les champs et dans les jardins, et posent les bases de systèmes semenciers et alimentaires durables, résilients et diversifiés en Europe. “La réforme du règlement de l’UE sur les semences est une décision clé pour l’avenir de notre alimentation et de notre agriculture. Nous devons lever nos Fourchettes pour la diversité dans nos champs et nos assiettes et contre les lois qui ne servent que l’agro-industrie”, demandent les organisations. “Chaque voix pour la diversité, chaque signature compte maintenant !
Principale revendication de la pétition : la diversité doit être la priorité absolue du règlement de l’UE sur les semences.
La proposition actuelle menace au contraire la conservation et la circulation de la diversité des cultures et ne respecte pas les droits des agriculteurs en matière de semences. Les lois controversées qui sont en cours de renégociation concernent le “règlement de l’UE sur les semences”, c’est-à-dire les règles du marché des semences de l’UE. Les règles actuelles ont été introduites dans les années 1960 et fixent des normes qui ont été développées pour l’agriculture industrielle. Les semences et variétés diversifiées ont été largement proscrites ou confinées à des niches, confrontées à une charge bureaucratique excessive, en fonction de l’État membre de l’UE. Les acteurs de l’agro-industrie ont fait pression pour que les nouvelles règles aillent encore plus loin dans la direction d’un modèle agricole uniforme.
“Avec cette proposition de loi sur les semences, nous courons le risque de voir les multinationales prendre le contrôle de notre alimentation. Elle alourdit excessivement le travail important des conservateurs de semences et ne tient pas compte des droits des agriculteurs à faire circuler leurs semences contre rémunération. De nombreux acteurs de la diversité devraient abandonner leur travail et la diversité des cultures serait irrémédiablement perdue. De telles règles ne sont absolument pas adaptées à notre avenir, en particulier en période de crise climatique et de crise de la diversité. La proposition est inacceptable”, déclare Magdalena Prieler, responsable de la politique des semences pour ARCHE NOAH à Bruxelles. ARCHE NOAH est une organisation de conservation des semences ayant des bureaux en Autriche et à Bruxelles, qui conserve, sélectionne et fait circuler des variétés et des espèces rares.
“Les Ministres de l’Agriculture et le Parlement européen doivent agir maintenant pour promouvoir la diversification de nos systèmes semenciers, en autorisant des dérogations spécifiques dans la nouvelle loi sur les semences ! La proposition doit soutenir la conservation à la ferme et l’utilisation durable de l’agrobiodiversité, y compris les nouvelles variétés développées pour les conditions locales grâce à des programmes de sélection participatifs et décentralisés. La diversité des semences est la clé d’une alimentation saine, variée et savoureuse. Il est temps d’agir pour améliorer enfin la diversité dans les champs des agriculteurs et dans les jardins, en soutenant les variétés locales et en respectant les droits des agriculteurs. Chaque citoyen peut maintenant lever sa fourchette et faire entendre sa voix pour la diversité avec nous”, déclare Riccardo Bocci, Directeur exécutif de Rete Semi Rurali en Italie, le réseau semencier italien regroupant 40 organisations.”
La pétition exige que :
– La conservation et l’utilisation durable de la diversité des cultures adaptées aux conditions locales soient la priorité absolue du règlement de l’UE sur les semences
– Le droit des agriculteurs et des jardiniers à récolter, utiliser, échanger et vendre leurs propres semences soit pleinement mis en œuvre.
– La commercialisation de variétés diverses et adaptées aux conditions locales par les producteurs de semences régionaux soit facilitée.
– Les nouvelles variétés approuvées ne soient pas dépendantes de pesticides ou d’engrais synthétiques.Signez la pétition ici : www.raiseourforks.org
Let’s raise our forks for diversity!
An international petition to support biodiversity in the fields for fairer and more sustainable food systems needs your support: please sign and share!
The current EU regulations for the marketing of seeds was created in the 60s with a focus on agroindustrial principles, which has led to the centralisation and privatisation of seed production, out of the hand of the farmers and into those of agrochemical companies.
Small, diverse and local farms and food producers, those better suited to address the challenges linked to the changing climate, fail to compete in a landscape of industrialised seed production aimed at monocultures.
That is where this petition comes in. Small, diverse and local farms and food producers need seed that is suited to their smaller scale, local and seasonal context, not seeds that are bred to produce uniform crops that grow best in the artificially uniform conditions created in agroindustrial fields with the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.
Despite revisions over the years, the EU regulations have failed substantially to protect agrobiodiversity and support the rights of farmers to select and produce seeds that is right for their local conditions (known as farmers’ seeds, or even evolving seed populations) and to share it in small quantities and on a local scale.
In the last few years the EU has embarked on a more thorough reform of its seed regulations. As was to be expected, the agroindustrial complex is pushing for stricter rules than those that already underpin their power, which would further their control on seed, and by extension on farming.
In July 2023 the European Commission has published a proposal that threatens the conservation and circulation of crop diversity.
This is the time to act for genuine change. We need seed laws that secure our right to healthy, diverse and tasty food, rules that truly enhance diversity in farmers’ fields and in gardens, supporting local varieties, and respecting the rights of farmer to choose diversity rather than uniformity.
In a changing world, we need as much diversity as possible to adapt and thrive. The new rules, instead would make it unaffordable for those that conserve, breed, share and sell biodiverse seed to keep operating, at a time when we need more, not fewer of these enterprises.
Read more on the campaign’s website and join our numbers!
Public pressure is crucial at this point in the political process, to make sure the responsible politicians hear the voices for diversity loudly and clearly.
Agroecology training manual
European Erasmus + Project P2P Agroecology (2018-21) published a reference toolkit on agroecology. In this short booklet, the six participating European organisations shared lessons learned on how to take agroecology beyond the farm: exchanging practices, sharing skills, and supporting other farmers in key stages of their journey towards agroecology.
The toolkit touches upon:
- Definition of peasant agroecology
- Promoting agroecology : a constantly evolving activity
- Providing references, guiding training programmes
- Theoretical knowledge
- Practical knowledge, know-how
- Soft skills
The guide is available in multiple languages, below the link to the English version.
English version
(if you are using Chrome and this does not work, try an Incognito window)
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).
ECLLD-NEWS! February
Europe – It’s time to exchange seeds, what initiatives are there in your country? Within what legal framework is it possible to act? How can we have organic varieties and how is the organic plant breeding status? KWANN-Norwegian Seed Savers organized a...
Seed Saving for Local Adaptation
The Norwegian Seed Savers will soon be hosting a webinar on Seed Saving for Local Adaptation with Dr. Bradley Tonnesen, who comes recommended courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance. Dr. Bradley Tonnesen holds a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Colorado State...
BIOFACH – World´s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food
The trade fair duo BIOFACH and VIVANESS will take place in 2021 from 17 – 19 February 2021 completely digital. Organic is more than a label or certification: organic stands for quality and conviction – for the responsible use of nature’s resources. BIOFACH in...
May 2026
EC-LLD! General Assembly (for EC-LLD! members only)
Official opening of the Forum
WS1: Seeds, Biodiversity and the Right to Food: The Role of Municipal Food Policies
WS 2: Seeds in Common: Genebanks, Breeding Innovation, and the Future of Democratic Seed Systems
WS 3: On-farm agrobiodiversity in the Balkan region: from preservation to plant population development
WS 4: Enhancing cultivated biodiversity through local food policies
WS 5: EU Seed Law Reform – What Does It Mean for Fields and Plates, and How Can We Safeguard Seed Diversity?
WS 6: Farmers’ Seed Systems in the Region of Central Asia and Eastern Europe: Experience, Challenges and Future Directions
WS 7: Agroecology Living Labs – Crossfertilization for promoting agrobiodiversity
WS 8: NGTs and Patents: How Can We Grow Without Them? Updates on Political Debates and Cooperation Amongst Organic Breeders and Growers
WS 9: Affectionate Alliances and Exploratory Mindsets: Building a Global Coalition of Agroecological Seed Networks for Evolutionary Radical Futures
Tasting 1: Crop Wild Relatives – COUSIN Project
Video
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