Brussels, 29 March 2007

Brussels, 29 March, 2007 - Euro Coop, the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives, welcomes today's vote by European Parliament in favour of stricter rules on the presence of Genetically Modified Organisms in organic food. "European consumers trust organic products as being GMO free and the initial proposal - allowing traces of GM contamination up to 0.9% - risked conveying unclear, if not misleading, messages to consumers, and would have therefore undermined consumer confidence in organic products" - commented Euro Coop Policy Officer Rosita Zilli after today's vote at the European Parliament.

Euro Coop now calls on EU institutions to maintain this position in the legislative procedure ahead, thereby demonstrating their commitment to safeguard consumer confidence in the European food supply.

Euro Coop is the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives, whose members are the national organisations of consumer cooperatives in 17 European countries. Created in 1957, EURO COOP today represents over 3,200 local and regional cooperatives, the members of which amount to more than 22 million consumers across Europe.

For further information, please contact:

Rosita Zilli, Policy Officer, Euro Coop
Tel: +32 (0)2 285 00 72, Fax: +32 (0)2 231 07 57
E-mail: Rzilliateurocoop.coop

Laura Street, Food Policy Officer, Euro Coop
Tel: +32 (0)2 285 00 74, Fax: +32 (0)2 231 07 57
E-mail: Lstreetateurocoop.coop