GMO-free europe

---

National: Hungary has banned GM maize MON810 under Directive 18/2001, Article 23.
Regions: Since 2005, there are two GMO-free regions: Transdanubia and Western Transdanubia.
Municipalities: 61 communities have declared themselves GMO-free.

---

GMO-free regions and municipalities

In February 2005, the regional council of Western Transdanubia passed a resolution, making it the first Hungarian GMO-free region. This was followed by a resolution of the Regional Development Council of the Transdanubia Region in December 2005, which thereby beceame the second GMO-free region.

61 GMO-free local authorities in Hungary have commited themselves to:

1. Declare the municipality a GMO-free zone
2. Follow a GMO-free policy in the services provided by the municipality
3. Enhance and support GMO-free agriculture with all the possible ways
4. Follow the new proposals for the authorization of new GMOs, and when consider it necessary will inform the GenTech Committee that the municipaility would want to be excluded from the scope of the authorization;
5. Control the cultivation of GM plants in the locally protected areas.

The GMO law

Since 1999 a comprehensive law on GMOs has been in place in Hungary, complying with EU Directive 90/220.
Article 10 of Hungary's Gene Tech Act XXVII, allows for the creation of geneticprotective zones, taking into account "flowering-biological features of the GM and the affected plant species, the environmental and climate relations, the other features of the GM and the affected plant species and environmental and nature protection."

Hungary's Moratorium on GM corn

On September 18, the Regulatory Committee of the DG Environment of the European Union voted against removing Hungary's moratorium on genetically modified corn variety imports. Meanwhile, the Government of Hungary is actively defending its moratorium because of lacking coexistence legislation to regulate the simultaneous production of conventional, organic, and biotech crops. Relevant committees of the Hungarian parliament have discussed a draft coexistence regulation with general parliamentary debate on this legislation to begin on October 16.

Contacts

MTVSZ/Friends of the Earth Hungary
Robert Fidrich
phone: +36-1-216-7297
email: fidusz@zpok.hu
website: www.mtvsz.hu

ETK
Veronika Móra
phone: +36-1-411-3500
email: move@okotars.hu
website: www.okotars.hu

Attachment	Size
hungary_map_October2006.jpg	218.35 KB