Hungarian opposition calls for tightening Hungary’s anti-GMO stance

Hungary’s firm stance for GMO-free food products should be further tightened to guarantee food safety, opposition LMP said on Tuesday.

Antal Csárdi, LMP’s deputy group leader, told a press conference that the party is proposing that parliament adopts a declaration on the matter.

Csárdi said several parliamentary groups were divided, with Momentum and Jobbik-Conservatives not voting for an earlier proposal declaring Hungary’s opposition to the EU’s pro-GMO recommendation, which “would allow such produce to flood European markets … by eliminating member states’ right to weigh the decisions individually”.

Momentum’s party family in the EU, Renew Europe, “is neoliberal and extremely pro-market, and a vocal proponent of giving free rein to genetically modified produce”, he said.

LMP is proposing a declaration that would take a stance for a GMO-free Hungary “independent of party affiliations”, Csárdi said. The declaration would clearly oppose new GMO technologies, he said.

Hungarians have a right to know whether their elected representatives take a stance for a GMO-free Hungary, he said.

Meanwhile, the debate has gained new momentum in the EU as “chemical industry players and seed producers are planning to launch a new technology that would prevent consumers from knowing whether the food they buy is genetically modified,” he said.

Source: MTI