The Ministry of Rural Development organised a debate on the role of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, held at the 75th National Agriculture and Food Exhibition (OMÉK). Present at the event, which drew great interest, were representatives from the field of science, agricultural government and farmers' organisations, with the aim of voicing their opinions and putting forward their substantive arguments on genetically manipulated agricultural products at an open podium discussion.

In his opening speech, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development József Ángyán voiced his disappointment at the fact that several representatives of Hungarian scientific life who are in favour of GMOs had not accepted the invitation to attend the debate. Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) Dénes Dudits, Ervin Balázs and Zoltán Bedő were not present at the event.

As a result, they deprived the profession and the public of the opportunity to become acquainted with their views, despite the fact that one of the basic conditions for the renewal of Hungarian society is the open discussion of diverse opinions. This is just as true in the case of increasingly controversial topic of genetically modified organisms. The clarification of the GMO issue requires the cooperation of several scientific fields, and should not be expropriates by any single profession. The issue involves the fields of environmental protection, nutrition, economics and agricultural science to an equal extent. József Ángyán drew the attention of those present to the moral responsibility of scientists, stressing that public money should serve the public good and that scientists must not act as the marketing managers of multinational companies. The goal of the National Rural Strategy is the creation of a pleasant, renewable environment, and the production of high quality, pure and safe Hungarian food that provides work for many, and this does not allow for the use of GMOs. For us, it is not the quantity of products, but their quality that is important. It is no accident that the new constitution includes the support of GMO-free agriculture. First generation genetically modified organisms are capable of two things: their every cell produces toxins, or they are resistant to herbicides.

All other claims by distributors are just promises. The State Secretary stressed that keeping the country free of GMOs is an issue of national strategy and security. Pure, GMO-free seed cultivation and agriculture is a significant market advantage for Hungary. The government is determined to clean up the food market too, in view of the fact that 90% of consumers are also against GMO products.

István Jakab, President of the Alliance of Hungarian Farmers' Associations (MAGOSZ) stated that it is not in Hungary's interests to compete with cheap, mass-produced GMO crops, and we don't want animal husbandry based on South American maize. What we need is safe, healthy food production.

Scientific consultant for the MTA's Plant Protection Institute Béla Darvas told those present that a system of environmental, medical or economic arguments will not in itself lead to the banning of GMO products. Scientific arguments must be formulated on the basis of concrete cases, and a ban requires well-founded, new scientific reasoning. This is precisely what his research group has put forward with regard to the environmentally damaging effects of Mon810 genetically modified corn.

János Györgyey, Senior Scientist at the MTA's institute of Plant Biology in Szeged, who was also representing the pro-GMO Zoltán Barabás Biotechnology Association, strongly rejected the claim that he was performing marketing work for international corporations. He claimed that the association was suffering as a result of a malicious press campaign controlled by the Ministry of Rural Development. As he put it, freedom from GMOs does not produce profit and they are putting public money to use in the interests of the nation. He did not reply to the question put forward later by József Ángyán on the issue of why his association had asked for legal interpretation from a foreign legal firm with regard to the GMO policy included in the Hungarian Constitution. He was also unprepared to reply to the question of why his association's magazine was being sponsored by companies who distribute GMO products.

Zsuzsanna Bardócz, Senior Counsellor at the Ministry of Rural Development, spoke of the fact that genetically modified organisms pose serious environmental and health risks. She also reported on the fact that 23 out of the 27 member nations of the European Union have chosen to decide for themselves if GMOs are to be allowed in their countries or not. She later noted that we can be proud of the fact that, following our example, 10 member states have already imposed moratoriums on the cultivation of GMO crops.

In closing, József Ángyán stressed that although the government is against the first generation GM crops cultivated in the world at present, but is on the side of science. A significant part of the Hungarian National Treasure, the gene bank, was almost passed into foreign hands, before the plan was successfully thwarted. We must rebuild our own agriculture, our traditional systems, retrieve and firmly safeguard our gene banks. We must not accept and copy foreign systems that are already dated and harmful, and in the background of which there always stands some strong financial interest.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)