The Federal Council has opened the consultation on a special law concerning plants from new genomic techniques (NTG), but the situation is alarming: this term does not even appear in the law, nor in the labeling of products. Result? Consumers are deprived of their freedom of choice.
Favored agrochemicals
NTG risks are considerable. These genetic engineering techniques allow deep and rapid changes to the genome, creating multiple unequaled alterations, without real security guarantee. The problem? There is no proven and useful product for Swiss agriculture. On the other hand, the only beneficiaries of this deregulation would be the agrochemical giants who already hold the patents of genetically modified techniques and seeds.
Without parliamentary debate
This law, full of gaps, would allow companies to privatize access to genetic material. This could lead to an explosion in seed prices and contamination of cultures. Farmers risk massive economic losses, even legal proceedings, in the event of contamination by these unwanted GMOs. Worse, no concrete legal protection is provided for agriculture without GMOs, and all this will be decided by order, without parliamentary debate.
The bill does not respond to the major concerns of the population, which massively refuses GMOs, regardless of their origin. The Swiss alliance for OGM -free agriculture (ASGG) requires a return to transparency, health and environmental security, and to preserve the choice of consumers. Let’s not let GMOs win on the Catimini!
