SWISS AGRICULTURE GE-FREE UNTIL 2010!
– Victory against Swiss Gene-Manipulator-Mafia! –
GENE-TECH FREE YOU – You must participate too!
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Basel Appeal Against Genetic Engineering
P.O. Box 4013
Basel / Switzerland
27.11.2005
PRESS RELEASE
GENE-TECH-FREE: Switzerland participates too!
Today, Sunday, Switzerland decided in a referendum about the GENE-TECH-FREE initiative. With a clear decision the voters took position against the cultivation of Genetech plants in Swiss agriculture.
The organization Basel Appeal Against Genetic Engineering congratulated the GE-FREE initiative-committee and at the same time already thinks about further campaigns: The association will shortly launch another anti-GE campaign in Poland together with another, like-minded organization.
The Swiss voters for once stood themselves on the side of environmental protection and food security and the Gene-Tech-Free initiative was with a majority of around 55% clearly accepted. The majority of the Swiss population therefore want also in future no Gentech-food on their plates.
The GENE-FREE initiative, however, does not [yet (ed.)] affect the import of Gentech-food into Switzerland or GE-research in open field trials. But it guarantees that so far and until the year 2010 in Switzerland no genetically altered food is sown, grown or harvested.
The Basel Appeal Against Genetic Engineering had at first dissociated itself from the launch of the Gene-Tech-Free initiative. The compromise proposal was seen as too distant to the group’s tasks, because open field trials and GMO import remain permitted.
Nevertheless, today’s joy about the referendum result was overwhelming in both camps of the Anti-GE activists, since together they stood against a counter-campaign by the GE-lobby, worth millions of Dollars, which didn’t succeed.
Furthermore: In hardly any other European country are the people in the privileged situation to decide in a referendum about a moratorium concerning the permission of genetic engineering in agriculture. Therefore the signal effect of the positive result of this referendum is reaching far – since the future of genetic engineering on the fields of Europe are influenced also by Switzerland considerably.
The Agro giant Syngenta, who resides in Basel, was clearly disavowed.
Here with us in Switzerland the future is clear for the next five years. But the fight against the genetic engineering must continue beyond the borders – in the interest of the diversity of species, that of the consumer and also in the interest of agriculture. Therefore the Basel Appeal Against Genetic Engineering goes to Poland: In the next months the association will launch an action there. Together with a friendly bio-farmer’s association the group will start a clearing-up campaign: Gen-Tech-Free – Poland participates too!
ENDS
For further inquiries: Pascale Steck, Basel Appeal Against Genetic Engineering, T +41-(0)61-692 01 01
Basler Appell gegen Gentechnologie
https://www.baslerappell.ch