Business meeting to be held in Brussels, on the 5th and 6th December 2007

The arrival of genetically modified organisms in agriculture has brought about new challenges for quality produce, to meet the needs of European consumers, 80% of whom reject food made using GM technology.
Europe’s ability to preserve a sustainable supply of GM-free animal feed, and above all soya, is therefore one of the keys to its continuing competitiveness.
Yet this measure, which meets the needs of consumers and strengthens the credibility of quality European agriculture, will not last in the long term unless Europe and the various zones of soya production that supply it successfully gain a better understanding of each other.

It is for this purpose that the Committee of the Regions and the GM-Free Regions Network and its 42 member regions take pleasure in inviting you to a conference – business meeting which will be held at the Committee of the Regions, 101 rue Belliard, B–1000 Brussels, on the 5th and 6th December 2007.
The closing date for registrations is the 15th November 2007.

The programme for these two days of meetings focuses deliberately on very concrete issues and will enable the invited European agricultural and agro-food players to:
- Find out about concrete experiences of the implementation of GM-free animal feed industries.
-Obtain information on the overall situation of the GM-free and organic soya market and have direct contact with producers from the Americas and Asia.
- Understand the strategy of European distributors regarding GM-free animal feed.
- Understand the strategy of European distributors regarding GM-free animal feed.
- Listen to opinions from European Union institutions and professional representatives and take part in discussions on the issue.

The speakers participating in the event will come from different backgrounds, which will illustrate the wide range of approaches to the issue:
- European agricultural producers: pork (COOPERL, France, BESH, Germany), poultry (IGP Poulets de Loué, France, Grampian Foods, United Kingdom), cheese (AOP Compté, France), milk (Cooperlat, Italy), animal feed (Gen. No GmbH, Austria).
- Conventional and organic soya producers: we have brought together two
producers from the United States (Northland Organic and Stonebridge), from Brazil (IMCOPA and COAMO), from Canada (Manna International and Snobelen Farms), from India (Sonic Biochem Extractions and Ruchi Global), from China (under preparation), an international trading company (Bunge USA) and a national trading company (Solteam France). This session will be introduced by Ken Roseboro, editor in chief of the trade magazine The Organic and Non-GMO Report, published in Iowa (USA).
- Certification and industrial assistance bodies: INRA (France), Cert-Id (USA), Eurofins Certification (France), Non-GMO Project (USA), ARSIA (Italy), ASSAM (Italy).
- European distributors: Carrefour (France), British Retail Consortium (United Kingdom), Co-op (United Kingdom), COOP (Italy), Lidl (Germany), Tegut (Germany), COOP (Switzerland).
- Producer associations and trade unions: COPA-COGECA (Europe), IFOAM
(international), AREPO (Europe), etc.
- European decision-makers: Delegations from the European Commission, European Parliament, Committee of the Regions and national ministerial delegations
- NGOs active in this field: FOE, Greenpeace, GENET, WWF, Italia e Europa senza OGM, etc.

If your industry currently uses GM-free animal feed or wants to incorporate this dimension into its consumer market approach, the Committee of the Regions and the GM-Free Regions Network, with the support of the AREPO, invite you to sign up for the conference – business meeting before the 15th November 2007 on the following website:
www.gmofree-euregions.net
or by fax on +33 (0)2 99 27 15 16

Pascale LOGET
Vice – President of the Regional Council of Brittany

In charge of the project:
Mr. Layadi Renaud
renaud.layadi@region-bretagne.fr

Dear friends,

I was very pleased to read Carlo Petrini’s statements on the invasive GMO
and biofuel threat, on the Terra Madre Newsletter.

Attempts to force GMOs on citizens and on the agriculture that feeds us all,
is surely one of the most pernitious crimes against humanity ever to have
been perpetrated on the living world. We would only need to rely on
laboratory created, patented “novel food” if no other choice existed. And it
is precisely this scenario that the creators of GMO wish to encourage.

One should be in no doubt about this. The ultimate (corporate) objective for
the “tomorrow” which Carlo Petrini refers to, is for corporations to rest
control of the entire food chain. Already GM seed processors Cargill and
Monsanto between them, own aproximately 60% of commercial seed stocks and
are increasingly exercising control over the farmers that buy from them.

In the USA, most of the small print in the contracts that would-be GM
farmers unwittingly sign carries a phrase stating that the signee has no
right to go to law to defend him/herself in the case of any problems. This
constitutes an extraordinary invasion of democratic rights and it is not
just aimed at US farmers.. The present US adminstration is supporting a
process of world food supply hegemony and is putting increasing pressure on
National governments to comply with it’s dictats.

In face of this unprecidented attempt to pollute and cross contaminate our
native and indigenous food supplies with highly unstable gene altered plants
and animals - there can be only one solution: an outright GMO ban.

If one wishes to stop an invasion of one’s Country one has to close the door
and then fight for one’s survival.
All members and supporters of the Slow Food movement must now rally to this
call. The damage which will be done if we cannot repel this invader is
almost beyond our comprehension. There is no time left to take any other
step than to DEMAND a cessation of all GM plantings in Europe and beyond.

There is no more aware and powerful an organisation than Slow Food to lead
such a call: firstly to our governments and the European Commission.

The current scientific evidence is conclusive in exposing the manifest
dangers inherent in GMO foods and in the complete impossibility of
controlling field based seed and pollen cross-contamination via the absurd
instigation of “Coexistence” measures proposed by the European Commission.

A new GMO Moratorium (leading to an outright ban) must be called for by all
citizens who care about the future of their food and environment. The
‘precautionary principle’ upon which EU law was founded, has failed us. We
have no other option than to demand the immediate cessation of all GMO
imports. A great surge of support for this action from Slow Food enthusiasts
will be the best possible way to launch this uniquely important campaign!

If enough people reply positively to this letter we can form a spearhead
steering group to hammer out our demands for a GMO Free World and join
forces with other activists struggling for the same aims.

NOW is the time.

In anticipation,

Julian Rose

(organic farmer,author of Slow’s Manifesto for Raw Milk Cheese and President
of the International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside)

Dear Friends,

The current GMO ban, introduced by the present government in 2006, still
holds to-day. However, it is in serious danger of being undermined by the
imminent introduction of a new law that would allow the commercial planting
of GMO. The European Commission rejected the blanket Polish ban on GMO
imports as being illegal under EU freedom of trade regulations. The Polish
government
has responded by coming up with a new Act that will almost certainly be a
‘compromise
solution’. The new Act will soon be discussed by the upper and lower
houses of the Polish parliament and a decision reached.

In our view the situation smells strongly of betrayal. Rather than stand up
and fight for what is a perfectly valid outlawing of an extremely dangerous
genetic experiment, the government is preparing to capitulate to the typical
bargaining games of political ineptitude and corruption. We will fight to
keep the current ban in place and we sincerely hope that all other aware
activists will recognise the importance of maintaining the Polish GMO ban.
It has enormous significance for the whole of Europe and beyond, not just
symbolically, but because Polish farmers maintain a highly diverse - and
informal - indigenous seed base which would be quickly wiped out if GMO were
allowed to proliferate the countryside.
This seed base can be shared with other countries of similar
geographic topography and will surely be very much needed in the not so
distant future.

Currently there are a number of GM field trials taking place at different
research stations around the Country.
They are mostly small scale (0.5 ha) plots but there are possibly some
larger maize trials.
As with virtually all other Countries, GM reseach and development is carried
out into a wide
range of fruits, vegetables and cereals, revealing the degree of
contamination which could be unleashed if such
genetically modified foods were to become legalized.

ICPPC calls upon all members of the Network for GMO Free World and all our
friends in other Countries to now send a short letter of alarm to the
leaders of the upper and lower houses of the Polish Parliament (where the
new act will
be debated: date unknown), calling for the secure maintenance of the present
GMO import ban and resistance to the irresponsible demands of Brussels. See
addresses below.
PLEASE send a copy to us!

Every Country must now help every other Country to reach our unified goal of
a GMO Free World.

Thank you dear friends!

Warm wishes,

Julian and Jadwiga
============
ICPPC - International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside,
Międzynarodowa Koalicja dla Ochrony Polskiej Wsi
34-146 Stryszów 156, Poland tel./fax +48 33 8797114
biuro@icppc.pl http://www.icppc.pl http://www.gmo.icppc.pl http://www.eko-cel.pl

******************
Chairman of Upper House
Bogdan Borusewicz
biuro@b-borusewicz.pl or borusewicz@nw.senat.gov.pl
Biuro Senatorskie Bogdana Borusewicza
Marszałka Senatu RP
ul. Ogarna 99/100
80-826 Gdańsk
tel.: +48 58 320 84 83
fax: +48 58 320 84 84

Chairman of Lower House
Ludwik Dorn
Ludwik.Dorn@sejm.pl
Biuro Poselskie Posła Ludwika Dorna
ul. Koszykowa 10
00-564 Warszawa
woj. mazowieckie
tel. +48 (22) 621-29-24, (22) 621-37-18
fax +48 (22) 621-38-12
*************************