The contents of this website are no longer being updated. You can access all the latest Hungarian news in English formerly featured on the Hungary Matters website and daily newsletters at our refurbished mti.hu portal.

The must-have newsletter about Hungary

FIDESZ MEP: MEMBER STATES SHOULD HAVE RIGHT TO DECIDE ON GMO PRODUCE

 

Keeping Hungary GMO-free is one of the government’s priorities, and Hungary will insist that member states retain the right to decide on the technologies used on produce allowed into the country, an MEP of ruling Fidesz said on Tuesday in Strasbourg, in reaction to a European Parliament debate on new genomic technologies. Edina Tóth said the report at the heart of the plenary debate “needs amendments”, calling for a clear distinction between NGT produce and organic agriculture. Further, “GMO produce’s beneficial effect on climate change or food safety is yet to be proven,” she said. The Fidesz delegation will not vote in favour of the report, she said. “We will protect Hungary’s GMO-free agriculture,” she said, adding that the rejection of such produce was also enshrined in the Fundamental Law.
Regarding the EC’s announcement on Tuesday on new climate goals, Tóth said “the timing is completely botched”. The announcement came at a time when “farmers are protesting against climate and agricultural policy decisions, and Europe is yet to catch up with its 2030 goal of cutting harmful emissions by 55%.” Tóth said there was “cause for optimism” as the EC did not try to present the goals as draft legislation but kept it a simple proposal, “at right-wing pressure”. She also welcomed that, “at right-wing pressure and in view of the protests”, the EC announced that it was scrapping the proposal to slash pesticide use by 50% by 2030. “That proposal would have ruined European and Hungarian farmers, as it would have sent food prices through the roof,” she said, pledging to “continue to protect European farmers, citizens and the industry from extreme, unrealistic EC proposals”.