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Swiss consumers side with GM opponents

by Thomas Stephens

swissinfo, 27 Nov 2005

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html=3FsiteSect=3D111&sid=3D6271553&cKey=3D1133121023000&rss=3Dtrue

A negative image of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) persuaded Swiss
voters to approve a five-year ban on their use in agriculture, the rival
camps agree.

=46inal results show almost 56 per cent of voters and all the country's 26
cantons backed a people's initiative for a temporary moratorium on GMOs.

While those who had campaigned for a moratorium were jubilant, opponents
said they would work to ensure the issues were properly explained to the
Swiss people.

"Of course we are very happy and satisfied," Daniel Ammann, from the
Swiss Work Group for Genetic Engineering, a coalition against gene food
technology, told swissinfo.

"I think this clear yes is proof of the political power of this alliance
between farmers, consumers and environmental organisations."

The result forces the Swiss government - which had called for the
moratorium to be rejected - to place a blanket ban on the cultivation of
any plant or import of any animal whose genes had been altered in the
laboratory.

"I think people realised that this is a new technology with many unsolved
problems and environmental and health risks," Ammann said. "They realised
it's not the time to give the green light to the agricultural use of this
technology."

Bio-safety

At the beginning of October, Economics Minister Joseph Deiss said a
moratorium on GMOs in agriculture would be bad news for farmers and =
consumers.

He added that a moratorium would give the wrong signal to the scientific
community and would be harmful to economic sectors linked to research.

"I don't think it's a negative signal," countered Ammann. "It's a signal
that research should focus on bio-safety and the development of products
which are useful for agriculture."

While Switzerland is home to many pharmaceutical firms as well as agro-
chemicals group Syngenta, only around one per cent of the research
performed in Switzerland involves GMOs, Ammann said.

He believes the result is good news for consumers. "If you look at all
the results from the past ten years in Switzerland and in Europe, more
than 70 per cent of consumers said they do not want genetically modified
goods."

Brain drain

Opponents of the moratorium included the Swiss parliament, scientists,
the business community as well as the main centre-right and rightwing =
parties.

They argue that a 2004 ruling on GMOs already goes a long way by
preventing the use of genetically modified livestock and subjecting GMO
plants to a range of tests.

"[This result] is a multiple package of factors," Klaus Ammann (no
relation) from the Committee against a Gentech Moratorium told swissinfo.
Ammann is an expert in transgenic crops at Bern University and also
director of Bern's Botanical Gardens.

"One is the defence of the motherland, another is the wrong kind of world
view. Genetic engineering is placed with industrial agriculture, the
Americans, the bad, bad President Bush and so on," he said.

Ammann said all this added up to a negative image. "The pro-people had a
very easy game to come with all sorts of pseudo-facts and half-truths
because the population was ready to believe it."

Klaus Ammann is convinced the moratorium sends out a negative signal.
"I'm quite sure about that. I can see that with my colleagues - there is
a brain drain going on," he said.

Despite this setback, he is confident for the future. "I'm sure that
within five years we will have much better arguments, such as the
resistance of potatoes against potato blight."

"Swiss voters are perfectly well-suited to understand complex issues but
it's a question of whether they want to. If they suck up all the bad news
and don't want to listen to the good news, then you get the situation we
have now."

Key Facts
- A proposal for a moratorium on GMOs in Swiss agriculture was accepted
by 55.7% of voters and all 26 cantons.
- It is only the 15th people's initiative in modern Swiss history to be
passed at the ballot box.
- Turnout was average at 42%.

In Brief
Swiss voters have accepted a proposal for a five-year blanket ban on
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Swiss agriculture.

The result will force the Swiss government to put in place some of the
toughest legislation on GMOs in Europe.

The European Union, of which Switzerland is not a member, ended a six-
year moratorium on accepting applications for new genetically modified
foods in May 2004.

But Germany and France, two of Switzerland's neighbours, both recently
voted to uphold national bans on products they deem unsafe.

-------------------------------

Swiss Adopt Five-Year GMO Farming Ban

by Tom Armitage

Reuters, 28 Nov 2005

ZURICH - Switzerland voted in favour of a five-year ban on the farming of
genetically modified plants and animals on Sunday, putting in place some
of the toughest restrictions in Europe.

The move, supported by farmers, ecologists and consumer groups, will
force the government to impose a blanket ban on the cultivation of GMO
crops and the import of animals whose genes have been modified in the
laboratory.

The moratorium does not apply to research into GMOs (Genetically Modified
Organisms) nor does it stop the import of genetically modified food.

But its supporters say the victory is a clear signal that Swiss consumers
and farmers are in favour of GM-free food and produce, at a time when
traditional Swiss farms are under threat from cuts in agricultural =
subsidies.

"All the farmers' organisations were behind this proposal, which they see
as a chance for Swiss agriculture," Daniel Ammann, a spokesman for the
winning coalition of GMO crop opponents, told Reuters.

"Swiss farming was already very ecologically sound and animal-friendly,
and farmers are convinced now that with the added label of 'GMO-free',
they will be able to emphasise the quality of Swiss produce," he said.

While the vote has a symbolic meaning, the moratorium will result in very
little change from current practice.

However, the ban could isolate Switzerland within Europe and lead to a
brain drain of researchers, its opponents said.

"This clear yes to a moratorium is a bad sign for Switzerland's image as
a research centre," the youth wing of the centrist Free Democrat Party
said in a statement.

CLEAR WIN

Official results showed that 55.7 percent of voters accepted the proposal
to impose a five-year moratorium.

All 26 cantons also accepted the ban, which which will give Switzerland a
tougher regime on GMOs than its neighbours in the 25-nation European Union.

In the EU, restrictions apply only to specific crops and are temporary in
nature, rather than the blanket ban proposed by the Swiss.

While Switzerland is home to many pharmaceutical firms as well as agro-
chemicals group Syngenta, only around 1 percent of the research performed
in the alpine nation involves GMOs, Ammann noted.

Under the country's legislative system, the Swiss electorate is regularly
asked to vote on major decisions.

Voters also narrowly agreed to legalise Sunday trading at shops in
railways and airports, ignoring calls from workers' unions and church
groups to ban Sunday shopping.

Swiss vote for 5-year GM moratorium