Swiss Vote Bans Biotech
Referendum over the weekend tightens regulation of high-tech crops.
Compiled by staff
Published: Nov 28, 2005
More than 55% of participants in a Swiss national referendum voted in favor of a five-year moratorium on all genetically modified animals and crops, except for use in some research and to produce medicine. The vote - forced by environmentalists and consumer groups - counters a law passed in 2004 that would have permitted cultivation of biotech crops once they passed a multi-year testing procedure.
The groups garnered 100,000 signatures to push the referendum forward and claimed that the law threatened Swiss farmers while benefiting multinational agricultural business. The referendum has created some of the toughest measures in Europe against biotech crops.
The measure will force the Swiss government to put in place some of the toughest legislation on biotech crops in the Europe. In the 25-nation European Union that surrounds Switzerland (the Swiss are not members), restrictions apply to specific crops only and are temporary in nature. The new proposal is supported by Swiss farmers, many of whom are considering a move to organic farming, which is booming in response to moves to cut traditional ag subsidies.
Swiss business groups that opposed the moratorium threatened the country's leading position as the center for gene technology research, according to wire reports. One opponent of the measure, the Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research, also says the vote would prevent farmers from using crops which are more pest and disease resistant.
The public referendum will guide Swiss lawmakers as they make policy on these crops for the future.
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Tagged: farming, organic, organic farming
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