The Polish case - managing uncertainties due to hidden cultivation - Dorota Metera GMOs and the organic market - threats, policies and strategies

c

The Polish case –
managing uncertainties due to hidden
cultivation
Dorota Metera

GMOs and the organic market – threats, policies and
strategies

c
    The Organic sector in the EU and Europe
  • 9.2 Mio ha in 2009 under organic certification in the Europe
  • Ca. 5% managed organically (EU-27 UAA in 2009)
  • Average annual growth rate 2000-2008:
    6.7% in EU-15 and 20.0% in EU-12
  • Organic sales in Europe approximately 20 Billion € in 2010;
    experts estimate market will double till 2020

Graphs: Organic market and organic land area in Europe
Sources : EU Commission (2010) and data Compiled by FiBL, AMI and ORC 2011, based on national sources (2011)

c
GMO cultivation in EU (2011):
Source: Friends of the Earth, February 2012

            Maize MON810                      acreage (ha)
            Spain                                  97 346
            Portugal                                7 723
            Czech Republic                          5 090
            Poland                                  3 000    ?
            Slovakia                                  760
            Romania                                   588
            Germany                                     0    0
            Potatoe Amflora
            Sweden                                     16    0
            Germany                                     2    0
            Total                                 114 525

Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007cof 28 June 2007
on organic production and labelling of organic products

(9) Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products produced from or by GMOs are
incompatible with the concept of organic production and consumers' perception of organic
products. They should therefore not be used in organic farming or in the processing of
organic products.

(10) The aim is to have the lowest possible presence of GMOs in organic products. The
existing labelling thresholds represent ceilings which are exclusively linked to the adventitious
and technically unavoidable presence of GMOs.

Dangers:
• adventitious polution by not identified GM-varieties cultivation –
2003 – 2005: several GM contamination cases in Spain with Bt176 and
MON810 (up to 34%). Organic certificates and premium prices lost.
Loss of local varieties of seeds.

• not identified GM-varieties cultivation in Poland - according ISAAA -
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications –
3 000 ha of maize in unknown locations, because of the Directive
2001/18/EC on deliberate release of GMOs is not implemented
* Data of 2011

Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007cof 28 June 2007
on organic production and labelling of organic products

(30) The use of GMOs in organic production is prohibited. For the sake of clarity
and coherence, it should not be possible to label a product as organic where it has
to be labelled as containing GMOs, consisting of GMOs or produced from
GMOs.

Danger: adventitious and technically unavoidable presence of GMOs - the
case of Polish animal feed processing plant in 2010, who produced for many years
organic and conventional animal feed formulas on the same line.
Although proper cleaning and separation measures were in place, it was not
possible to avoid contamination and the company stopped the production of
organic feed formulas. Since 2010 Polish organic egg producers are buing organic
feed by Dutch and German companies, the price is 50% higher than Polish
products.

Coexistence is too expensive for organic and traditional producers!

Regulation 834/2007
                                         c
Article 4
General rules

Organic production shall be based on the following principles:
(a) the appropriate design and management of biological processes based on
ecological systems using natural resources which are internal to the system by
methods that:

(iii) exclude the use of GMOs and products produced from or by GMOs with
                  the exception of veterinary medicinal products;

Regulation 834/2007                        c
 Article 9
 Prohibition on the use of GMOs

1. GMOs and products produced from or by GMOs shall not be used as food, feed,
     processing aids, plant protection products, fertilisers, soil conditioners, seeds,
     vegetative propagating material, micro-organisms and animals in organic
     production.

2. For the purpose of the prohibition referred to in paragraph 1 concerning GMOs or
     products produced from GMOs for food and feed, operators may rely on the
     labels accompanying a product or any other accompanying document,

3. …. with regard to products not being food or feed, or products produced by
     GMOs, operators using such non-organic products purchased from third parties
     shall require the vendor to confirm that the products supplied have not been
     produced from or by GMOs.

                    Danger: credibility of the vendor

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008
                                                      c
laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on
organic production and labelling of organic products with regard to organic production,
labelling and control

                                           Article 69
                                       Vendor declaration

           For the purpose of the application of Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No
           834/2007 the vendor declaration that products supplied have not been
           produced from or by GMOs may follow the model set out in Annex XIII to
           this Regulation.

                             Danger: credibility of the vendor

Regulation 834/2007         c
     Art. 22
     Exceptional production rules

(g) where it is necessary to use food additives and other substances as set out in
Article 19(2)(b) or feed additives and other substances as set out in Article
16(1)(d) and such substances are not available on the market other than
produced by GMOs;

  Danger: possible change of production method of vitamin B 2 to GMO.
  Traditionally produced vitamin B 2 not avaiable ?

c
Correct labelling of products containing GMO

c
Elimination of misleading labelling of products
containing GMO by the use of EKO

 Chicken feed formula
 EKOKURCZAK 1
 (Eko-chicken)

 containing soy bean MON 40-3-2

c
  Labelling of GMO-free products

Austria since 6.03.2008            Germany since 1.05.2008

c
Private labels of GMO-free products

                      „Free soup”

                      •   GM free
                      •   egg free
                      •   colouring free
                      •   phosphate free
                      •   emulsifier free
                      •   stabiliser free
                      •   artificial flavouring free
                      •   and hardly any fat

c
Campaigns against GMO

Consumer
                                           c
   attitudes
  - GMOs

                      ... not only in Europe....
EU consumers
• 66 % are worried about GMO in
  food (Eurobarometer 354; 2010)
EU Organic consumers
• name freedom of GMOs amongst
  important reasons to buy organic
  food

                           GM foods is not good for you and your family                  15

                           (Source: Eurobarometer, Biotechnology report, October 2010)

Polish experience:                               c
Campaing against seed law proposal introducing GM varieties without
implementation of the directive 2001/18/EC on deliberate release of GMOs

 1.07.2011 – Sejm (Lower Chamber of Polish Parliament) decided the proposal of seed law
 introducing GM varieties

 30.07.2011 – Senat approved the proposal

 Social and media campaign againts GMO (over 6000 votes on the web site of Polish President
 were collected asking to vetoe the seed law)

 24.08.2011 – Bronisław Komorowski, President of Poland vetoed the seed law

 October 2011 – new governmental proposal alowing the registration and marketing of GM seeds

 January 2012 – new presidential proposal –
 ban of registration and marketing of GM seeds

 8.02.2012 – Forum of Public Debate in the Presidential Palace

 Problem not solved:
 • theoretical ban of registration GM plant varieties,
 • no monitoring and control mechanisms,
 • no information about the cultivation of GM crops,
 • practically – not identified GM fields

c
Polish experience:
more facts:

 2010 – complainst of Foundation Institute of Civil Affairs to the DG Health &
 Consumers that Poland does not fulfilling the obligation of monitoring and controlling
 GMO as it is reguired by the Directive 2001/18/EC

 8.08.2011 – reply of DG Health & Consumers:
 • no obligation of taking appropriate measures by the Member States to avoid the
 unintended presence of GMO in other products,

 • no detailed obligation in regard of informing the landowners in case of land lease
 and the neighbours about GMO cultivation,

 • formal request to the Polish government how the Directive 2001/18/EC is
 transposed to Polish legislation and executed.

 26.08.2011 – Wikileaks on influences of USA diplomates on Polish ministerial
 officials

c
Organic sector demands regarding
socio-economic impacts

• Socio-economic impacts of placing on the market and the
  cultivation of GMOs for the non-GMO sector must be considered
  before any authorisation, societal benefits and costs must be
  considered
• Precautionary principle must apply, also regarding socio-economic
  impacts
• An EU wide liability system must ensure that costs for prevention
  of contamination, testing and social and economic damages in case
  of contamination are covered by those companies that benefit from
  GMOs placing on the market
• EU wide legally binding rules for co-existence have to be
  established that guarantee food and farming can stay GMO free

  (The whole food production chain, different regional structures, costs for the prevention of contamination and
  mitigation measures in case of contamination in: seed production, on the field; cleaning of commonly used
  machinery, transport and storage facilities; sampling, testing, segregation systems, compensation for damage and
  loss of reputation must be considered.)
                                                                                                                     18

Thank you for
            c your attention!