OF&G (Organic Farmers & Growers) has raised concerns about Defra’s announcement to allow new gene editing (GE) technologies in the UK, repealing existing EU legislation.
As the UK organic certification body OF&G would welcome any measure that ensures benefits for ‘food security, climate change and biodiversity loss’, as highlighted by Environment Secretary George Eustice. However, the impact that genetic technologies will have on these three key issues is still unknown, he said.
Roger Kerr, CEO of OF&G, says that, while not unexpected, the news leaves countless questions unanswered.
Many of the genuine concerns raised by OF&G and others during the consultation period have been overlooked and the learnings from the recent consultation are completely unbalanced in representation and deficient in substance.
“It had long been anticipated that GE deregulation was a ‘done deal’, but at a time when agricultural policy is undergoing such a big shift, there is little to no evidence that the much vaunted ‘sticky plaster’ of GE will effectively address it in today’s social and environmental emergencies, we are told it will, ”says Mr. Kerr.
Advocates of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) indicate that new varieties of transgenic crops “will benefit farmers and reduce impacts on the environment.”
“However, with our biodiversity and our environment already under great pressure, any new strategy must be fully tested and an independent impact assessment before being released into the natural environment,” continues Mr. Kerr.
“As such, OF&G recommends that the manipulation of genetic material only be carried out under a robust and completely transparent regulatory framework. The government has a duty to give a choice to both farmers and buyers; from the improvement of varieties to the labeling of products, similar to the strict regulation that the holders of organic licenses achieve year after year ”.
In this latest announcement, Defra’s chief scientific advisor, Gideon Henderson, states that “the planned changes will ease the burden of research and development involving plants. […] to align them with plants developed with traditional cultivation methods. “
However, OF&G said it does not mention that genetically engineered organisms are in fact new and patentable, created using “inventive steps” that do not occur in nature.
“In the new world of proprietary transgenic crops, intellectual property rights will be of enormous importance in the food system. We would encourage a public debate on the impact of increasing corporate control of our food, “said Kerr.
“The claim that lifting the ban on genetic engineering ‘will help grow plants that are stronger and more resistant to climate change’ is not fully verified, as are the impacts of releasing these organisms into the natural environment. .
“If the government genuinely seeks to ‘protect the natural environment’ as they have indicated, then there are proven and regulated methodologies of the whole food system, such as organic ones, that deserve much greater recognition and support through funding for additional research.
“We have had 70 years of agricultural technological innovation that has attempted to manipulate and subvert nature and now we are faced with the harsh reality of this approach. GE is no different. Industrial and intensive agriculture is killing our ecosystems and GE deregulation will not address this.
“The Government must think beyond a ‘miracle solution’ and implement policies that solve the root causes of these problems, if we want to avoid the inexorable slide towards disaster for our society and the planet.”