Protests in rain and snow – results

Last Wednesday, at a closed meeting of the Premier Boyko Borisov with representatives of a mothers’ initiative group he gave a promise that no other amendments to the Law would be made except for those requested by the EU, and that we should be assisted in getting our proposals taken into consideration. As a result of this meeting with Mr. Borisov, on Thursday our proposals were delivered to Mr. Aleksiev (GERB), Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Environment and Water. The latter promised that they will be provided to all MPs from the commission and considered at its meeting on Thursday. Regretfully, in the course of the meeting it was found out that our proposals had reached nobody except for Mr. Yazov and Mr. Aleksiev but these two did not proposed them for consideration during this meeting.

Some of the direct positive results achieved with citizen pressure up to the moment (for which let us honor all active and tireless people who stood up even in torrential rains in order to show their citizen stand) are, as follows:

1. After the meeting, during the news broadcast on the Bulgarian National TV Mr. Aleksiev stated that GERB engages to initiate a debate within the EU on the GMO issue. We hope that the Bulgarian position in this debate will be for limitation of GMO distribution. This would be our country’s chance to delete its image of a “banana republic” where laws can be passed turning us into experimental field of the EU and USA. Fears of whether this can happen were aroused by the yesterday’s voting in the Commission on Environment and Water, as it remains still unclear what is the real position of GERB for at the yesterday’s meeting the GERB MPs voted against the proposed text which was obliging the Council of Ministers to make a request to the EU for allowing national GMO prohibitions.

2. Once again the incumbents agreed in public with the position of civil society that to adopt a law of poor quality and afterwards to declare moratorium on it is a stupid non-productive idea. GERB stated that that it will declare “Ban on GMO cultivation on the territory of the country for 5 years and efforts will be put in the working out of a restrictive and quality law”. The difference is very delicate but substantial. Having in mind the public statements we expect to see these steps implemented. Judging by the positions expressed at the meeting of the Commission on Environment and Water on 12 February there is important non-coincidence between their promises given in public and their work on the law.

In the meantime we are continuing our struggle for the adoption of our based on good European practices proposals which we want to be integrated in the draft law!

The points on which we still face resistance (mostly on the part of Mrs. Evdokia Maneva) are, the following:

1. The buffer areas – the way we propose them – 30 km around the Natura 2000 areas, 5 -10 km around apiaries and 10-15 km around seed producing plots.

2. Obligatory labeling of products with over 0,1% GMO content.
3. Requirement for obligatory written consent from adjacent fields for GMO cultivation and seeding.

4. To ban the usage of the hybrid МОN810 in Bulgaria.

5. Reinstatement in the Law of the procedures for public discussion of permits issuing for GMO release on the market.

6. Request for guaranteeing the objectivity of the Advisory Committee on GMOs at the Ministry of Environment and Water through the enlarging of its composition with representatives of agricultural, environmental, consumer and patient organizations.

We do expect all parliamentary forces to realize the responsibility of the decision they have at the present moment and to turn their back to political and inter-partisan games as this issue is of national importance. This would mean also to taking the responsibility and voting with explicit stands under all and every article of the draft law. No abstentions!

Translation: Prolet Ilieva