GMO DISPUTE EXPLODES: COLDIRETTI SAYS CULTIVATING GM0s IS PUNISHABLE BY LAW. THE PRESIDENT OF CONFAGRICOLTURA VECCHIONI SAYS, “THE IDEOLOGICAL CLASH ON GM PUTS RESTRICTIONS ON FREE ENTERPRISE AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH”

The dispute on GM0s has definitely heated up. The Federation of Italian Farmers, Coldiretti, stresses that after the “spontaneous confession”, on April 25th, of planting genetically modified corn in Friuli where the fields were consequently destroyed by a group of no-globalists, in Italy it is forbidden to cultivate genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and violations are punished with imprisonment from six months to three years or a fine of up to 100 million Italian Lira, plus an administrative sanction (Legislative Decree 24 April 2001, No 212).

“It is clear”, says Coldiretti, “that illegal actions should always be condemned: in this case as well, where one illegal action was committed to combat another one. We also have to acknowledge that the institutions were not as quick in condemning the original violation (they let the plants grow risking that pollen from the mature corn plants could cause contamination) as they were in condemning the no-global movement’s actions.

Federico Vecchioni, president of the Italian confederation of farmers, Confagricoltura, responded to Coldiretti: “the ideological clash over GMOs that hides an interventionist attitude which restricts free enterprise and scientific research, is bearing its fruit. It justifies acts of abuse, violation of private property, vandalism and arbitrary justice that are unacceptable if we are still convinced that we live in a State subject to the rule of law”.

The actions of the no-global movement “distract from the heart of the matter,” presses Vecchioni, “GMOs can be eaten but not grown. Nobody seems to remember that food made from GMOs is regularly and legally sold, while in the countryside a dangerous “witch-hunt” climate is being created. “I am concerned,” added the president of Confagricoltura, “that an issue as sensitive as that of GMO is denied a peaceful, competent dialogue, supported by all possible scientific sources, and that they are trying to impose their point of view at all costs.