Can GMO-free animal feed be competitive?

The arrival of genetically modified organisms in agriculture has brought about new challenges for quality produce, to meet the needs of European consumers, 80% of whom reject food made using GM technology.
Europe’s ability to preserve a sustainable supply of GM-free animal feed, and above all soya, is therefore one of the keys to its continuing competitiveness.
Yet this measure, which meets the needs of consumers and strengthens the credibility of quality European agriculture, will not last in the long term unless Europe and the various zones of soya production that supply it successfully gain a better understanding of each other.

It is for this purpose that the Committee of the Regions and the GM-Free Regions Network and its 42 member regions take pleasure in inviting you to a conference – business meeting which will be held at the Committee of the Regions, 101 rue Belliard, B–1000 Brussels, on the 5th and 6th December 2007.
The closing date for registrations is the 15th November 2007.

The programme for these two days of meetings focuses deliberately on very concrete issues and will enable the invited European agricultural and agro-food players to:
– Find out about concrete experiences of the implementation of GM-free animal feed industries.
-Obtain information on the overall situation of the GM-free and organic soya market and have direct contact with producers from the Americas and Asia.
– Understand the strategy of European distributors regarding GM-free animal feed.
– Understand the strategy of European distributors regarding GM-free animal feed.
– Listen to opinions from European Union institutions and professional representatives and take part in discussions on the issue.

The speakers participating in the event will come from different backgrounds, which will illustrate the wide range of approaches to the issue:
– European agricultural producers: pork (COOPERL, France, BESH, Germany), poultry (IGP Poulets de Loué, France, Grampian Foods, United Kingdom), cheese (AOP Compté, France), milk (Cooperlat, Italy), animal feed (Gen. No GmbH, Austria).
– Conventional and organic soya producers: we have brought together two
producers from the United States (Northland Organic and Stonebridge), from Brazil (IMCOPA and COAMO), from Canada (Manna International and Snobelen Farms), from India (Sonic Biochem Extractions and Ruchi Global), from China (under preparation), an international trading company (Bunge USA) and a national trading company (Solteam France). This session will be introduced by Ken Roseboro, editor in chief of the trade magazine The Organic and Non-GMO Report, published in Iowa (USA).
– Certification and industrial assistance bodies: INRA (France), Cert-Id (USA), Eurofins Certification (France), Non-GMO Project (USA), ARSIA (Italy), ASSAM (Italy).
– European distributors: Carrefour (France), British Retail Consortium (United Kingdom), Co-op (United Kingdom), COOP (Italy), Lidl (Germany), Tegut (Germany), COOP (Switzerland).
– Producer associations and trade unions: COPA-COGECA (Europe), IFOAM
(international), AREPO (Europe), etc.
– European decision-makers: Delegations from the European Commission, European Parliament, Committee of the Regions and national ministerial delegations
– NGOs active in this field: FOE, Greenpeace, GENET, WWF, Italia e Europa senza OGM, etc.

If your industry currently uses GM-free animal feed or wants to incorporate this dimension into its consumer market approach, the Committee of the Regions and the GM-Free Regions Network, with the support of the AREPO, invite you to sign up for the conference – business meeting before the 15th November 2007 on the following website:
www.gmofree-euregions.net
or by fax on +33 (0)2 99 27 15 16

Pascale LOGET
Vice – President of the Regional Council of Brittany

In charge of the project:
Mr. Layadi Renaud
[email protected]