Source: Nature & progress http://www.natpro.be/
"The Walloon Decree on the coexistence of cultures has been voted
On June 11, the Walloon Parliament voted the draft decree on the coexistence of cultures proposed by Minister Benoît Lutgen. Concretely, this means that it will be - as much as possible - impossible to cultivate genetically modified plants on Walloon territory.
This vote is undoubtedly a direct consequence of the campaign led by Nature & Progrès, in the spring of last year, which you supported by agreeing to sign our petition "Save organic" which protested against tolerance, in organic products, from accidental pollution by GMOs.
Despite the delay - sometimes very long - which can separate an awareness raising action from its effects in regulatory and legislative terms, we wanted to inform you of this very positive development and to thank you for the active role that you have played in matter. You have no doubt allowed our association to have its theses triumphed with the Walloon legislator.
Why did Wallonia have to legislate?
The cultivation and marketing of GMOs is governed by a series of European regulations which must be translated into national or regional decrees. Concerning the actual GMO culture, it is up to the federal power to regulate the installation of trial plots in Belgium. With regard to commercial crops, a variety of GMOs can be authorized by a State - in Belgium, it is also the federal level which is competent - if it judges that the GMO in question does not pose any risk for the health and the environment. Nothing would therefore have prevented a farmer from planting a Walloon plot with a GMO authorized at European level; he would have done so without any constraint, but at the risk of seriously polluting the environment. It was therefore urgent to legislate in terms of the co-existence of cultures. And if it is up to the federal level to decide on the trial fields, it is the Regions which define the conditions for cultivation. The Walloon Region was therefore competent to define coexistence rules, that is to say all the conditions which GMO crops must meet in order to prevent any economic damage to third parties, by the very fact of these cultures .
Four years ago, a working group was set up, at the initiative of the DGA (Directorate General of Agriculture), the product quality department, in order to define the conditions for setting up in the Walloon soil of genetically modified crops. This group was made up of representatives of farmers and the various distribution channels, biotechnology firms, researchers and members of the various administrations concerned. Nature & Progrès has invested a lot in these particularly complex discussions; we were of course aware of the fact that the installation of GMO fields could cause the loss of organic farming ... At the end of these long years of work, a draft decree was finally drafted. It was voted on by the Walloon Parliament on June 11 and should come into effect before the end of the year.
What does the Walloon decree provide for?
The decree adopted in Wallonia strictly defines the conditions which must be met by any establishment of a field of genetically modified plants. It was essentially a question of continuing to defend quality agriculture and to guard against any risk of irreversible dissemination.
Since the regionalization of agriculture, Wallonia has developed an agricultural policy based on the maintenance of family farming, offering high quality products with high added value. The organic sector thus finds its place there ... But the importance of the risks of irreversible dissemination of genetically modified plants is a fact that no one can dispute today. The new Walloon decree therefore had to take this into account. The text adopted by the Government therefore provides in particular:
an obligation to register: anyone wishing to plant a plot of genetically modified plants on Walloon territory must request registration from the competent authority; the location of any plots will therefore be well known to all. In addition, the GMO producer will have to notify his intention to set up such plots to all neighboring farmers, to all those with whom he shares equipment, as well as to the owner of the land;
the isolation of the plot must be rigorously organized: separation distances are planned with organic crops, as with all conventional crops. It will also be prohibited to cultivate, in the surroundings, plants of the same species;
cultivation conditions will also be defined, from sowing to storage of crops, in order to prevent contamination of the land adjacent to fields that have hosted genetically modified plants;
farmers who choose to grow GMOs will have to contribute to a fund to compensate farmers who could suffer an economic loss due to accidental contamination. The application of the polluter pays principle will therefore apply! A system of sanctions will also be put in place which provides, among other things, for grubbing up the plots of offenders.
Finally, the Walloon decree also provides, for farmers who wish, the possibility of defining GMO-free zones.
A single text at European level
Of course, the implementing decrees - which have yet to be drafted - will specify the measures provided for in the decree. At Nature & Progrès, we will obviously not relax our attention so that these decrees really prevent any dissemination of GMOs in our environment, so that the high quality of organic food produced in Wallonia is preserved, to the benefit of consumers' health. .
Let us not be afraid to say it: the text adopted by the Walloon Government is one of the strictest coexistence texts that exist at European level. It is therefore advisable to continue on this path by bringing this primordial debate on the coexistence of cultures to the European level. The other Member States of the European Union must also have the courage to prevent the pollution of their agriculture by genetically modified plants. The future quality of European agriculture is at this price!
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