Workshop B6

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• Workshop B6

GM-free Regions and coexistence legislation in
the EU
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Main requests of the Regions to the European
Commission

• Ensuring the freedom of choice for Regions and
  local authorities to ban the growing of GMOs on
  their territories or part of their territories
• In parallel, safeguarding traditional and organic
  agriculture by taking all possible measures to
  avoid contamination by GMOs
• Clearly specifying the responsibilities in case
  of contamination of products from the
  conventional and organic farming with GM crops

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How to achieve these objectives?

• Setting up a binding EU regulatory framework
  based on the precautionary and polluter-pays
  principle
• Ensuring more transparency in the whole EU
  authorization process for GMOs Involving Regions
  and other relevant partners

www.a-e-r.org
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Key elements to be integrated into the draft
regulation on coexistence

• Coexistence measures should
• aim at a GM contamination level that is as low as
  possible
• cover the whole food chain
• protect consumers and farmers right to choose
• be aimed at protecting natural and agricultural
  biodiversity
• permit regional and local authorities to declare
  their territory or part of it GMO-free
  precautionary principle

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Key elements to be integrated into the draft
regulation on coexistence

• Threshold for labelling of GMO seeds to be set at
  detection level 0.1
• 0.9 threshold for labelling only if presence of
  GMOs adventitious or technically unavoidable
• In case of economic and ecological damage caused
  by GMOs, GM farmers and producers to be liable
  polluter-pays principle
• Costs incurred by third parties in avoiding
  damage (testing, monitoring, etc.) to be born by
  GM grower and producer

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Need for more transparency

• Public register not sufficient GM farmers to be
  obliged to inform their neighbors
• No new approval of GMOs before EU legally binding
  rules

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Need for more consultation and dialogue

• Necessary to include the Regions in the EC
  co-ordination network (task force on GMOs)
• For a wide consultation process with all relevant
  stakeholders (GM industry,farmers organizations,
  NGOs, retailers, consumer organizations) on the
  issue of coexistence

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• AER-FOE Conference on Coexistence, GMO-free
  Regions and quality food produce in Europe
• European Parliament, Brussels, 17 May 2005
• You are all welcome!!