Swiss petition to curb genetic engineering gets nearly 25,000 signatures

A petition in Switzerland to extend a moratorium on genetic engineering, or GM technology, for a fifth time has been handed in with 24,780 signatures. The petition was submitted on Thursday in Bern, with authors calling for a transitional arrangement until the implementation of the planned Food Protection Initiative. This is set be launched in the autumn and will introduce strict rules for genetic engineering, according to a press release issued on Thursday. Behind the petition is the Association for GMO-Free Food, which is worried that the current moratorium on genetic engineering, in place since 2005, is to expire at the end of 2025. Genetic engineering companies want the Swiss authorities to lift the moratorium, which states that genetically modified organisms can currently only be cultivated in Switzerland for research. However, an easing is on the cards: in 2022, parliament instructed the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive body, in 2022 to submit rules on how genetically ...