European non-GMO association gaining members

The new European Non-GMO Industry Association (ENGA) has already gained seven new members since its founding earlier this year. These seven companies and associations include: Verein Donau Soja, ProTerra Foundation, Impetus GmbH & Co. Bioscience KG, Raiffeisen Kraftfutterwerk Kehl GmbH, SaluVet GmbH, Bäuerliche Erzeugergemeinschaft Schwäbisch Hall, and Upländer Bauernmolkerei GmbH. The new members include industry associations, a GMO testing laboratory, feed companies, a farmers group, and organic dairy producers.

In addition to the new members, ENGA’s founding members are VLOG, the German Association of Foods without Genetic Engineering, and ARGE Gentechnik-frei, the Austrian Platform for GMO-free Food Production.

Harmonization of national standards and regulation of new GMOs

ENGA is campaigning for uniform legal rules and harmonization of European control standards for Ohne Gentechnik (without genetic engineering or non-GMO) labeling of food and feed. A uniform European non-GMO standard would benefit traders and manufacturers, for whom the current patchwork of nationally different production and control standards complicates cross-border trade of Ohne Gentechnik products so far.

Eight EU countries—Austria, Germany, Hungary, France, Italy, Slovenia, Poland, and Czech Republic—and two non-EU countries—Switzerland and Bosnia/Herzegovina—have national non-GMO labeling laws.

Another focus of ENGA is to ensure that products of new genetic engineering are also subject to an approval procedure with safety testing and transparent labeling.

There are no exact figures for the size of the EU non-GMO market but it must be large based on figures from Austria and Germany. Austria’s non-GMO market is worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.82 billion) and Germany’s is worth 10 billion euros ($12.1 billion). An estimated 60% of all milk and poultry and 70% of all eggs in Germany are non-GMO.

More companies and associations welcome as members

Companies and associations that rely on the established “Ohne Gentechnik” quality standard as an important market factor with increasing demand are welcome to support ENGA’s work through by becoming members.

For more information about ENGA, visit: https://www.enga.org/.

Organic & Non-GMO Insights October 2021