1 million Europeans petitioning against GMOs

The petition

To the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso:

"We call on you to put a moratorium on the introduction of GM crops into Europe and set up an independent, ethical, scientific body to research the impact of GM crops and determine regulation."

More than one million signatures have been gathered in this legal bid to "freeze" GM crop cultivation in the European Union and were handed over on December 9th 2010.

This petition was initiated because the EU Commissoner of Health authorised the controversial antibiotic-resistant GE potato in March 2010 in spite of public opposition and scientific concerns.

European Union law enables a one million signature petition to require serious consideration

According to the laws of EU, a petition with at least 1 million names has to be considered by the government of the European Union. This petition means that the EU is forced to consider a moratorium on the introduction of GM crlops into Europe.

Avaaz, the organization that initiated this petition says:

"After the Commission broke the twelve year ban on GM crops and put the GM lobby's profits before public concerns, over one million of us signed this initiative. People across Europe want more rigorous testing before crops are approved that could threaten our health and environment."