Swiss vote to tighten GMO regulations

Swiss voters have approved a referendum to tighten curbs on genetically modified farm products, a divisive topic in a country that already prohibits most of such technology from being used in agriculture. More than 55 percent of participants in the national referendum voted for the five-year moratorium on all genetically modified animals and crops, except for use in certain research and to produce medicine. The referendum was forced by environmentalists and consumer groups who easily gathered the 100,000 signatures they needed to oppose a January 2004 law that would have permitted cultivation of genetically modified crops once they passed a "multiyear testing procedure." The groups claimed the 2004 law threatened Swiss farmers while benefiting multinational agricultural business and would have forced products onto the market that people are not interested in buying. The campaigners also needed to gain a majority in over half the country's 26 cantons for the initiative to be approved. Voters in all 26 cantons cast their ballots in favor of the ban. Switzerland's system of direct democracy means that the people's consent is required on any major issue. Concerns about the safety of biotech foods for consumers and the environment have led many Europeans to resist the introduction of such products. 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 governments in Germany and France, neighbors of Switzerland and two of Europe's largest economies, both recently voted to uphold national bans on products they deem unsafe. Swiss business groups argued that the moratorium threatened the country's leading position as a center for gene technology research. The Zurich-based Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research, an opponent of the moratorium, also claimed it would prevent farmers from using crops which are more pest- and disease-resistant. Swiss voters in 1998 rejected an attempt to ban genetically modified organisms entirely. Source: Grand Forks Herald, 11-29-2005

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