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The EU has now decided that it is acceptable for organic food to be contaminated with up to 0.9 % GM. gonk

This contamination won't be on the label so for people like me who are totally opposed to GM we won't be able to avoid eating the stuff. scream

This is so messed up! mad

Grrrrrs to the poxy, stinking, horrible European Union!

(I'm a little pissed off! sweatdrop )

See Friends of the Earth Press Release:

ANGER AS EU MINISTERS GIVE GREEN LIGHT TO GM-CONTAMINATED ORGANIC FOOD
Jun 12

Friends of the Earth has criticised today's decision by EU
Ministers to allow organic food to be contaminated with
genetically modified organisms (GMOs). EU Agriculture Ministers,
including the UK, have adopted a new law which allows organic food
containing up to 0.9 percent of GM content to be classed - and
labelled - as organic. Furthermore, consumers would not be
notified of any GM presence below this 0.9 per cent threshold.
[1].


Environmental groups have hit out at the decision for going
against the principle of consumer choice. Organic farming is the
most competitive and environmentally friendly agricultural sector
and in Europe it is creating new jobs and has wide public support
[2].


Under current European GM labelling rules, any GM content of
non-organic food must be labelled unless it is below 0.9 per cent
and is "adventitious or technically unavoidable" - ie accidental.
Now the same rules will apply to organic food. Current organic
standards in the UK set by the Soil Association and other
certifiers prohibit any GM content in organic food.


Today's decision could have significant implications for the rules
European countries put in place to control GM contamination of
conventional and organic crops in the field - so called
`coexistence' measures. The UK Government and European Commission
have interpreted the 0.9 per cent labelling threshold as a target
for allowable GM content, rather than a buffer for accidental
contamination. And Defra has used this interpretation to justify
proposals for weak rules to control GM contamination from GM
crops, if and when they are grown in England [3]. A legal opinion
from leading European law experts found this approach to be
"fundamentally flawed" [4]. Public consultations on `coexistence'
measures in Wales and Scotland are expected this year. Northern
Ireland adopted the same approach as Defra.


Friends of the Earth's GM Campaigner Clare Oxborrow said:

" Allowing organic food to be contaminated with GM material is
completely unacceptable. EU Ministers have put the interest on
the biotech industry ahead of consumers who believe that organic
food should be produced to strict environmental standards.
O rganic farmers will now find it increasingly d ifficult to
protect their crops from GM. This vote must not be used as a
green light to allow routine GM contamination. The EU and UK must
now introduce tough legislation to protect organic and
conventional farmers from genetic pollution .


The European Parliament and environmental groups had called for
the threshold of contamination of organic food to be 0.1 per cent,
which is the current accepted limit of detection for genetically
modified organisms.



NOTES:


[1] The new law agreed today in the Agriculture Council allows
0.9% GMO contamination in organic foods as long as it is
adventitious or technically unavoidable. However there is
evidence that the European Commission and UK Government are
adopting a lax attitude to contamination and are interpreting the
0.9 percent threshold to mean acceptable contamination. The
organic sector currently works to a lower threshold and EU laws
should support and enable organic farmers and retailers to
maintain existing standards.


[2] http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2007/FoEE_biotech_MTR_mi
dlifecrisis_March07.pdf[1]


[3] Defra's proposals for coexistence measures for England
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/gmnongm-coexist/cons
ultdoc.pdf[2]


[4] http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/consultation_responses/coexisten
ce_legal_summary.pd[3]

NO! Argh! But I think a law like that would have been pushed through, regardless of the EU. It was an inevitable action...Doom...Doom...Doom.