The regulation, which exempts GM plants produced using new genomic techniques (NGTs) from the existing rules on GMOs, was approved by the EU in June this year
Slovakia is to bring an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union against the EU regulation on the deregulation of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the Slovak news outlet Teraz.sk reports. Prime Minister Robert Fico made the announcement following Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
The regulation, which exempts genetically modified plants produced using new genomic techniques (NGTs) from the existing rules on GMOs, was approved by the EU in June this year. “This regulation sparked major protests because it essentially said that ‘everything is fine’, that we have nothing to worry about. There is no evidence for this; we do not know what effects it might have on people,” said the Prime Minister. “We have decided to bring legal action against this regulation,” he added.
The adopted regulation was rejected in an appeal addressed to the Minister of Agriculture, Richard Takáč, by a number of organisations, including members of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, former ministers, as well as many prominent organisations such as the Slovak Beekeepers’ Association, Greenpeace Slovakia, the Slovak Hunting Association, ‘We Are the Forest’, the Slovak Association of Bakers, Confectioners and Pasta Makers, the Association of Feed Producers, Storage Operators and Trading Companies, the Association of Organic Fertiliser Producers, Agro-Ecoforum, Ekotrend and the Rural Parliament in Slovakia.
According to the signatories of the appeal, the new regulation contravenes the EU’s precautionary principle and consumer rights, as well as certain international agreements.
