On April 3rd, activists from Greenpeace, Polish NGO “GMO to nie to” (GMO is not that) and many others gathered in front of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Poland. With the world’s biggest drum, they drew attention to the ongoing government decision-making process regarding a ban on the cultivation of GMOs.
At the same time in Sejm (Parliament) a conference “GMO in agriculture and food production – opportunities and dangers of genetically modification of plants and animals” was taking place.
Since summer 2011, when the seed act allowing the registration of GMO plant varieties was vetoed by the President Bronisław Komorowski, civil society has continuously asked the governmet to ban the cultivation of GMOs in Poland and to introduce the European law requiring a monitoring and control mechanism as well as registers of GMO plant cultivation available for the public.
According the yearly reports of Monsanto, maize MON 810 has been growing on 3000 ha since 2008, but even the Ministry of Environment, responsible for GMOs in Poland, does not know where are they located. A petition against GMOs signed by 40, 000 citizens was handed over to the Prime Minister later in the day.
