Activists from the “Poland Free from GMO” coalition believe that the government’s proposed bill on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is against the constitution.

The bill, drafted by the Environment Ministry, allows the commercial growing of GM crops. However, in its present state the bill would allow farmers to grow transgenic crops in the direct vicinity of ecological farms.

Ewa Rembialkowska from the University of Life Sciences in Warsaw told Polish Radio that the co-existence of organic and GM farming is not possible, as it has been proven that pollen travels across field boundaries and that there is no way of containing one field from another.

Meanwhile Pawel Polanecki, an independent expert from the anti-GMO coalition, said that if the bill is passed, then the case will be taken to the Constitutional Tribunal, adding that the government is obliged by the constitution to look after the environment.

Furthermore, Polanecki added that the bill would infringe on the rights of the individual, as it is not known what kind of influence GM crops and foodstuffs have on humans. This is also against the constitution, which states that people may not be party to experiments that they know nothing about.

Katarzyna Lisowska, a molecular biologist from the Oncological Institute in Gliwice, southern Poland, believes that material published for the case of trangenic crops are often penned by the laboratories where the crops are produced, and should be treated with caution.

Other countries in Europe have already introduced bans on GM crops, including Germany, Austria, Hungary and Luxembourg. (jb)