Heike Moldenhauer, Secretary General of ENGA (European Non GMO Association), said:
"With its proposal on New Genomic Techniques the European Commission is aiming to unleash unlabelled and untraceable GMOs onto European fields, into the supermarkets and on to people's plates. It is EU food business operators' right to know what is in their value chains and EU citizens' right to know what is in their food.
"It is completely incomprehensible that the Commission proposes - for most NGTs - to label only plant reproductive material, and for there to be transparency only for breeders and farmers. Labelling and transparency have to apply to all products derived from NGTs and have to be made available to all business operators. The right to know about genetic engineering in agriculture and food is indivisible.
"Should most New GMOs no longer be subject to risk assessment and labelling, then the European Commission is effectively hanging out to dry the whole Non-GMO food market - one that is worth billions of euros per year. And it's all in the name of some bogus sustainability claims, which so far remain unproven.
"There is still time for the Commission to act on behalf of EU citizens and the food sector, which wants its food to be properly labelled and traceable. Otherwise, we call on EU Member States and MEPs to do the right thing and throw this proposal back to the drawing board, ensuring all GMOs are subject to risk assessments and labelling."
The leaked, draft legislation was published by Arc 2020 here.