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Wales Announces Complete Ban on GMOs with 15 other EU Countries
by Christina Sarich
Posted on October 5, 2015
Another victory!
The Welsh Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, has announced that the country will take advantage of new EU rules allowing countries to opt out of growing EU-authorized GM crops. Yep – Wales is moving forward with a complete ban on biotech’s seed! [1]
Evans says that the nation plans to ban GM corn as well as 7 other GM crops authorized by the EU. She states:
“These new rules proposed by the European Commission provide Wales with the necessary tools to maintain our cautionary approach by allowing us to control the future cultivation of GM crops in Wales. It will allow us to protect the significant investment we have made in our organic sector and safeguard the agricultural land in Wales that is managed under voluntary agri-environment schemes.”
She continued:
“Farming and food processing businesses remain the driving force of our rural economy. Our emphasis is on competing on quality, strong branding and adding value through local processing. We, therefore, need to preserve consumer confidence and maintain our focus on a clean, green, natural environment. By having the ability to control what is grown in Wales we can have confidence in preserving these values. I have therefore acted now to ban the eight GM varieties from being grown in Wales that are either approved or about to be approved for cultivation in the EU.
These crops have not been developed for Welsh growing conditions and would be of no real benefit to Welsh farmers at this time. I will of course keep this position under review and am keeping an open mind on future GM developments and more advanced genetic techniques.”
Meanwhile, in the US, Food Democracy Now has reported that the Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled a hearing less than three weeks away — on Wed. Oct 21st, to try to pass its version of the DARK ACT, 1599. The House passed the DARK act in July; the act outlaws states’ rights to label GMOs. Forget bans in the US, we can’t even get correct labeling, thanks to Monsanto!
With the string of EU Countries banning GMOs, soon we’ll have to report on the stragglers who haven’t banned genetically modified organisms.
Sources:
[1] GreenPeace
by Christina Sarich
Posted on October 5, 2015
Another victory!
The Welsh Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, has announced that the country will take advantage of new EU rules allowing countries to opt out of growing EU-authorized GM crops. Yep – Wales is moving forward with a complete ban on biotech’s seed! [1]
Evans says that the nation plans to ban GM corn as well as 7 other GM crops authorized by the EU. She states:
“These new rules proposed by the European Commission provide Wales with the necessary tools to maintain our cautionary approach by allowing us to control the future cultivation of GM crops in Wales. It will allow us to protect the significant investment we have made in our organic sector and safeguard the agricultural land in Wales that is managed under voluntary agri-environment schemes.”
She continued:
“Farming and food processing businesses remain the driving force of our rural economy. Our emphasis is on competing on quality, strong branding and adding value through local processing. We, therefore, need to preserve consumer confidence and maintain our focus on a clean, green, natural environment. By having the ability to control what is grown in Wales we can have confidence in preserving these values. I have therefore acted now to ban the eight GM varieties from being grown in Wales that are either approved or about to be approved for cultivation in the EU.
These crops have not been developed for Welsh growing conditions and would be of no real benefit to Welsh farmers at this time. I will of course keep this position under review and am keeping an open mind on future GM developments and more advanced genetic techniques.”
Meanwhile, in the US, Food Democracy Now has reported that the Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled a hearing less than three weeks away — on Wed. Oct 21st, to try to pass its version of the DARK ACT, 1599. The House passed the DARK act in July; the act outlaws states’ rights to label GMOs. Forget bans in the US, we can’t even get correct labeling, thanks to Monsanto!
With the string of EU Countries banning GMOs, soon we’ll have to report on the stragglers who haven’t banned genetically modified organisms.
Sources:
[1] GreenPeace