New dispute over GMOs in Italy
Published on 19/2/2013
GMOs give no respite: Minister Catania proposes introducing a safeguard clause to prevent their introduction on national soil and asks for the cooperation of the Ministry of the Environment in providing further analysis on the matter. The statements come from the MIPAAF on the sidelines of the latest EU Council of Agriculture Ministers, and on this point Mario Catania has asked his technical staff to prepare a dedicated dossier.
These are Catania's words: "Personally, I do not believe that GMOs benefit the Italian agri-food economic system — quite the opposite. Consumers do not perceive them positively. That said, if we wanted to move towards the introduction of GMO crops in Italy, there must be a legal framework of guarantees for those who do not grow GMOs and want to continue practising traditional or organic agriculture."
The dispute thus takes on an exclusively legal character, just as in Brussels the negotiation on GMO legislation "is at the mercy of the waves," says the minister.
The Minister therefore proposes maximum discretion and flexibility for Member States regarding the entry of GMOs into their own national territory.
Futuragra, a cultural association of farmers promoting agriculture supported by biotechnology, including genetic technology, has heavily accused Minister Catania of using the GMO issue for an eminently political and electoral purpose, and has recalled that the European Court of Justice has affirmed farmers' right to access biotechnological innovations in order to guarantee equal market conditions for all producers.
On the other side, a "no-GMO" appeal comes from environmental associations, through the task force "for a GMO-free Italy", according to whom accepting GMOs would amount to a country renouncing its own food sovereignty. "These goods, — states the task force — by their very nature, have a universal destination. It is mainly on this ground, which is the ground of an 'extended community' whose rights are universal in nature and encompass past, present and future, that we base our opposition to GMOs".