Because of these considerations, Euro Coop asked the EU Commission to review the laws in order to clarify some ambiguous terms, to include NGTs among transgenic techniques and their products among GMOs and to extend the research of unexpected changes and effects of NGTs by supporting a wider use of the so called “omics” sciences and techniques. Taking into account the specificities of NGTs and in order to fully implement the Directive 18/2001, authorization procedures should at least include the compulsory disclaim of the targeted DNA sequence, the technique used, on target and off-target effects and how they’ve been determined. Therefore, Euro Coop encourages to improve plant varieties and animal races by applying the advanced knowledge of genetics and molecular biology to speed up the selection procedures among progenies obtained through natural breeding (i.e. Marker Assisted Selection, microsatellites, SNPs etc).
Euro Coop sees this revision in legislation as necessary because consumers should retain the right to exert an informed decision whether to use them. To this intent, it is important to underline that consumer co-operatives were the first retailers to remove GMOs from their brand products. In fact, many Euro Coop members decided to guarantee their own brand products as GE free and supported a full regulation for the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment.
Interesting reading: MEPs letter to the EU Commission
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