Farmers' union wants labels on food indicating use of GM products
Prime Minister also calls for labelling
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The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) said on Tuesday that wants voluntary labelling of food products to indicate any phases of the production chain in which genetically modified products have been used.
The MTK has been pushed to make a statement on the use of GM animal feed ever since food producers LSO Foods and Lounais-farmi said earlier in the summer that they would start to import GM soybeans for use in pig feed.
MTK Chairman Michael Hornborg said that the organisation feels that consumers should be told about what their food contains.
However, Hornborg noted that it is not possible to require labels on Finnish products alone.
"In such a case, Finnish products would be in an unequal position compared with imported goods. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get a label like this onto imported meat, as EU regulations do not require it.
Hornborg says that the solution is in the hands of the consumer.
"Stores say that they sell what the consumers want... if consumers want a label, the shops are certainly able to provide one."
MTK is not taking a stand on the safety of genetically modified feed, or on whether or not GM soybeans should be imported into Finland at all. According to the organisation, officials are responsible for ascertaining the safety of Finnish food production processes.
"Producers and consumers must be able to trust that all production methods permitted by the law are safe for consumers, and that they do not pose a danger to the environment", the MTK statement reads.
Hornborg says that the GM feed debate is not a divisive one for MTK members, even though there are differing opinions on the matter within the organisation.
Pig farmers tend to take a positive view of GM feed, while organic farmers and dairy farmers are against it.
"There is plenty of emotion in the debate. I feel that farmers who want to use traditional methods have every possibility to do so, if consumers want it.
Hornborg, who runs an organic farm himself, does not necessarily reject the use of genetically modified soybean.
"If we want to be involved in competition, we must also dare to take new technology into use. Genetic modification has its positive size, for instance, fewer pesticides are needed. Now we must keep in mind that we are talking about genetically modified soybean, which has been studied very thoroughly. Each plant has to be considered separately."
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) also took a stand on the GM debate on Tuesday.
Vanhanen said that he wants Finnish foods to have special labels if their production has not involved products of a GM origin.
"This is a very difficult issue", Vanhanen said at a press conference in Helsinki on Tuesday.
"I hope that a procedure can be found so that at least that part of the food industry that can guarantee that there are no GM products in the chain, could say it."
Vanhanen said that he believes that Finnish consumers want to know what they put in their mouths.
On the practical level, meat raised on genetically modified feed already is sold in Finland. Foreign meat imported into Finland is very likely to have been raised on GM feed.
The farmers' newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus wrote on Monday that Feedex, a feed company operating in Central Ostrobothnia, has been selling GM soybeans to about 20 Finnish pig farms for about a year and a half.
The first genetically-modified seeds for commercial use were planted in the United States ten years ago. Now GM crops are being raised on 102 million hectares worldwide.
The MTK has been pushed to make a statement on the use of GM animal feed ever since food producers LSO Foods and Lounais-farmi said earlier in the summer that they would start to import GM soybeans for use in pig feed.
MTK Chairman Michael Hornborg said that the organisation feels that consumers should be told about what their food contains.
However, Hornborg noted that it is not possible to require labels on Finnish products alone.
"In such a case, Finnish products would be in an unequal position compared with imported goods. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get a label like this onto imported meat, as EU regulations do not require it.
Hornborg says that the solution is in the hands of the consumer.
"Stores say that they sell what the consumers want... if consumers want a label, the shops are certainly able to provide one."
MTK is not taking a stand on the safety of genetically modified feed, or on whether or not GM soybeans should be imported into Finland at all. According to the organisation, officials are responsible for ascertaining the safety of Finnish food production processes.
"Producers and consumers must be able to trust that all production methods permitted by the law are safe for consumers, and that they do not pose a danger to the environment", the MTK statement reads.
Hornborg says that the GM feed debate is not a divisive one for MTK members, even though there are differing opinions on the matter within the organisation.
Pig farmers tend to take a positive view of GM feed, while organic farmers and dairy farmers are against it.
"There is plenty of emotion in the debate. I feel that farmers who want to use traditional methods have every possibility to do so, if consumers want it.
Hornborg, who runs an organic farm himself, does not necessarily reject the use of genetically modified soybean.
"If we want to be involved in competition, we must also dare to take new technology into use. Genetic modification has its positive size, for instance, fewer pesticides are needed. Now we must keep in mind that we are talking about genetically modified soybean, which has been studied very thoroughly. Each plant has to be considered separately."
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) also took a stand on the GM debate on Tuesday.
Vanhanen said that he wants Finnish foods to have special labels if their production has not involved products of a GM origin.
"This is a very difficult issue", Vanhanen said at a press conference in Helsinki on Tuesday.
"I hope that a procedure can be found so that at least that part of the food industry that can guarantee that there are no GM products in the chain, could say it."
Vanhanen said that he believes that Finnish consumers want to know what they put in their mouths.
On the practical level, meat raised on genetically modified feed already is sold in Finland. Foreign meat imported into Finland is very likely to have been raised on GM feed.
The farmers' newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus wrote on Monday that Feedex, a feed company operating in Central Ostrobothnia, has been selling GM soybeans to about 20 Finnish pig farms for about a year and a half.
The first genetically-modified seeds for commercial use were planted in the United States ten years ago. Now GM crops are being raised on 102 million hectares worldwide.
Helsingin Sanomat