Ques
st for
GMO Free Poland
Paweł Po
ołanecki
C li i GMO
Coalition
O Free
F
Poland
P l d
Food and Democracy Confference Lucern April 2009
.1 Social base for gmo resis
stance in Poland
60% of Poles believe that eating GM
MO foods can be harmful for your h
two in three Poles wouldn
wouldn'tt buy GM
MO foods even if they were significa
r than traditional products.
one in two would support
pp
a ban on the cultivation of GM p
plants even if
o mean higher food prices.
66 % belives that none of the strictt legal rules will be observed, scient
tech industry will do what they wan
nt ( source : PBS DGA for
f Gazeta Wyborcza,
b
2008-
1.2 Political background forr „GMO free Poland”
ll the 16 Regional Selfgovernment Assemblies
A
adopted positon to obta
f GMO free .( 5 Feb. 2006 ) Territory
y of Poland became a gmo free zone
amework Position of the Governme
ent of Poland regarding
g
g GMO ; 3 Apr
p
The Government of Poland seeks th
hat Poland acquired the status of ”G
untry”, therefore, pronounces :
against
i t a deliberate
d lib
t release
l
off GMO
O into
i t the
th environment
i
t for
f experime
i
es on the territory of the Republic of
o Poland.
against the introduction of GMO ap
pproved on the base of Dir 2001/18
ts or in products into the market.
against the introduction of genetica
ally modified plants into the market
sibility of cultivation.”
During the authorization procedure
e for introduction of new genetically
Violence of Polish SEED AC
CT
he Seed Regulation Act of 27 April 2006 Art. 57
7 point 3, ascertains literally that “Seed material
y modified crops
p is prohibited
p
for turnover on th
he territoryy of Poland.”
he term “turnover”, which was intentionally cons
sidered by the legislative bodies to cover “importi
ng and handling” and also “operating with or usin
ng and applying “ - has been publicly reduced by
ustry’ lobbyists to the meaning of “ placing on th
ustry
he market “ ( as defined in reg no 1829/2003)
ently this has created a gap in the strict prohibition legal regulation. Erroneous interpretation , p
dual farmers the “ legal” conditions to deal with and
a cultivate transgenic crops “for their own use
Meanwhile Monsanto,
Monsanto which controls the Polish A
Association of Maize Producers
Producers, together with num
scientists, has been promoting among the corn farmers a campaign to smuggle Mon 810 seed
s the only panaceum for the ‘corn borer’ which, surprisingly,
s
expanded widely in recent years.
he farmers are exactly instructed how to explain
n their “own
own use.
use ”
Violence of Polish GMO Ac
ct.
Despite
p recent efforts to introduce a new Polish GMO
G
Law initiative,, which has since been rejecte
j
Commission, (Case T-69/08) the so called “old” GMO regulation adopted in 22nd June 2001 st
valid. This act comprises rigorous procedures forr internal notification and penal consequences in
nauthorised application of GMOs, especially in an
n open field.
s entitled to operate with GMO on Polish territoryy without prior and appropriate acceptance of th
n Chapter 7 , numerous civil and penal code resp
ponsibilities are prerequisite,
prerequisite including imprisonm
s for unauthorized use of GMO materials.
urthermore, following the requirements of that law, the Ministry of Environment keeps a “Public
of GMOs”
GMOs , in which all of the written applicationss placed by potential GMO operators are specifie
n 2007 and 2008 no permissions for any GMO materials
m
for commercial cultivation were issued.
Article 39
No one shall be subjected to scien
entific experimentation, including m
experimentation, witho
out his voluntary consent.
iton : GMO in
it
i food
f d and
d feed
f d are potentia
t tially
ll h
hazardous.
d
This
Thi is
i a world
ld wide
id expe
ow science is not able to proove the absolute safety of GMOs.
s well as other European citizens are un
nconsciously exposed both to food and f
dangerous Bt transgens spread in the en
nvironment. With the lack of proper labe
on sites information, we are subjects of a hidden experiment.
Article 74
lic authorities shall pursue policies ensuring
e
the ecological security of c
and future
e generations.
ition : Illegal , unregistered plantations of
o Bt MON 810 create biological contam
natural biosafety systems and case unre
eversible damages to the environment.
Arti
ticle 64
eryone shall have the right to owner
ership, other property rights and the
of succcession.
sition : The property rights of convention
nal and organic producers are not protec
IIntroduct
t d tion
i
off th
the
feed ban ha
as now been
extended until the end
of 2012
2, which
effecttively
has killled
h
l d thi
this
legisla
ation.
opposed approval of new biotech produccts in the EU, and has announced that
nd should be a “GM-Free” country.
y The g
government banned the sale and
tration of biotech seeds in mid-2006 and
d passed legislation that was to
bit import, production, and use of anima
al feed derived from biotech crops by
ustt 12,
12 2008.
2008 Lobbying
L bb i h
hard
d ffor th
the b
ban on
o biotechnology-derived
bi t h l
d i d animal
i l
were organic farmers and environmenta
al groups. However, on July 27, 2008,
wo weeks before a ban would have gone into effect
effect, Poland’s
Poland s president
ed a law pushing back the introduction off a ban to 2013. The GM feed ban
defeated by
y a coalition of Polish and U.S. trade associations,, le
he American Soybean Association, Polish importers, feed
nufacturers,, meat p
producers,, and
d diplomatic
p
representations
p
uding the Governments of the United States, Argentina, and
ada.
American Soybean Association, supported by FAS Warsaw,
yed a key role in defeating the ba
an. Avoiding this ban prevented
uption of U.S. Soybean exports to the EU generally and exports
. feed to Poland, worth $100 million.
educational activities of ASA and FAS Warsaw
W
helped Polish industry get the
unition they needed to beat the feed ban
n and has left in place a coalition of cont
.."The
"Th ffeed
d bban wouuld
ld have
h
jeopardized
j
di d
ughly $6
$6.4
4 billion in
n Polish pork or poul
production not inclu
production,
uding losses for feed
compoun
nders.„...
nders
4.1 Scientific studies increasing
gly expose the fact that GMO
harmful to human,
human animal and environmental health.
health It has a
been unequivocably established
d that it is simply not possible
h
have
'co-existence'
'
i t
'b
between
t
GM
M and
d GM-Free
GM F
crops and
d plan
l
4.2 GMO are hazardous no dou
ubts, no disscusions. EU law s
t clearly.
y That is whyy is so resttricted.
4.3 We need that those legal re
egimes are fully implemented
Poland - with provision to forbid GMO in food, feed and cultiv
f we decide to do so
so.
4.4
4
4 In this critical
c itical situation
sit ation we
e demand immediate ban for
fo
cultivation of MON 810 before the
t seeding season stars.
Thank you for your attention
© Paweł P
Połanecki
Warsaw, Lu
ucern 2009 r.