Topic: 2024-GMOs and Food Security
Country: Greece
Delegate Name: Disha Sriram
Disha Sriram
Greece
GMOs and Food Security
Food and Agricultural Organization
Forest Hills Central High School
In the current day, the use of GMOs when it relates to food security has been a very controversial topic that both politicians and the public have debated. Greece’s past actions have put GMOs under restrictions as of the approval on September 21, 2005 which required that GE products and derived products had to be authorized by the European Union Studies Association before they were allowed to be distributed.
Today, the laws implemented in Greece regulate the distribution of GMOs and prohibit the growth or importation of GMOs in Greece. Greece maintains a de facto ban on the cultivation and importation of genetically engineered food products. Greece maintains this stance because of the potentially harmful impacts GMOs can cause such as toxicity, allergic reactions, antibiotic resistance, immuno-suppression, cancer, and loss of nutrition. These six factors and more have the potential to harm thousands to millions of people around the world.
The country of Greece strived to end the cultivation of GMOs within its borders completely and permanently, in which Greece and other European countries like Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Scotland, and more have succeeded in doing so after a European regulation (EU regulation) was updated in 2015 from 2001.
The country of Greece implores that the UN end the growth and development of GMOs. GMOs have been proven to raise allergy and environmental concerns that have to be removed now. As per being under EU regulation, Greece advocates for similar practices to be applied globally. Greece recognizes that it is impossible to completely cease the use and development of GMOs, but keeping them under check and moderated is the best way to move forward for the safety of our world.
Greece would propose a resolution similar to the guidelines we already have in place which is the EU regulation. Firstly, having the option to ban the growth of GMOs on their country’s soil. This would give a country the right to refuse to grow any and all GMOs allowing them to be freed of them from their land. Secondly, requiring a risk assessment on the release of GMOs onto their land. This would entail an assessment of the GMOs along with public consultation before the GMOs are released for cultivation. Thirdly, the right to refuse the growth of GMOs in one’s territory. This means that even if GMOs are found safe, your territory would still have the right to refuse the growth of GMOs on your land.
An expansion of the EU regulation would be a good way to reduce the use and spread of harmful GMOs so that we can have a safer planet.
