The Ulster Farmers’ Union is extremely concerned by the European Commission’s proposal which attempts to re-nationalise EU market authorisations of genetically modified (GM) crops for feed and food use.
UFU Deputy President Ivor Ferguson said: “The EU Commission’s proposal to re-nationalise the decision-making power on GM feed or food back to individual Member States’ is very worrying due to the impact it will have on the Internal Market for food and feed products. It is vital that the approval of GM feed and food remains at an EU–wide level and it must be based on sound scientific evidence. If the EU Commission’s proposal was to be implemented National bans on imports would disrupt trade and threaten the single market, which would push up costs and damage competitiveness across the whole supply chain. This would have a huge impact on the pig and poultry sectors who rely so heavily on EU feed imports. Any increase in the price of feed would put a significant strain on food producers and a national ban would seriously compromise many Member States’ ability to produce pig and poultry meat.”
The UFU will continue to monitor the situation and will be urging the EU Commission to reconsider its proposal to re-nationalise the decision-making power on GM feed or food back to individual Member States.
