Natural Law Party alerts MEPs to the dangers of genetic engineering

12 March 1996

The Natural Law Party of the United Kingdom has sent the following message to each of the 87 British Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The message was timed to arrive before today’s crucial debate in the European Parliament on the regulations concerning the production, licensing, and labelling of genetically engineered foodstuffs in the European Union. The Natural Law Party urged MEPs to vote in favour of tighter regulations on the use of these products. Similar messages have been sent to MEPs of other countries by their Natural Law Parties, and the response so far has been predominantly positive.

MEPs were previously approached on this matter in March last year when the European Parliament voted on the legal protection of biotechnological interventions in humans, animals, and plants. At the same time, the Natural Law Party urged a complete moratorium on germ-line genetic manipulations because of the grave dangers to life and the lack of reliable research.

This followed the significant stir created in the American scientific community when the eminent DNA researcher Dr John Fagan took an ethical stand against genetic engineering because of the lack of proper controls. Dr Fagan returned over $600,000 of US government research grants and withdrew proposals for a further $1.25m. He announced that he was going to focus on "safer, more productive directions of research", particularly Maharishi’s Vedic Approach to Health, which prevents and treats disease naturally, cost-effectively, and without harmful side-effects.

Text of the letter from the Natural Law Party to British MEPs:

"We are writing to you to request that you vote in favour of the proposed 48 amendments designed to tighten up European Union laws regulating the use of genetically engineered products. We understand that these will be debated on Tuesday 12 March in the European Parliament and a vote will be taken on 13 March.

There is considerable and mounting evidence from several countries that the uncontrolled use of genetically engineered organisms poses grave threats in the long term. Apart from specific research and particular instances from the USA, Australia, and Europe that highlight the range of unpredictable and sometimes disastrous outcomes, there is simply far too little knowledge available to support the confident use of these materials. We are therefore in favour of the tightest possible controls and would urge you to vote accordingly. We feel the amendments to the law are not only essential for the health and vitality of the population, but also to give the governments and peoples of Europe their proper democratic right to choose whether or not to buy genetically engineered products.

We would especially urge caution in the use of germ-line genetic engineering, in which the changes introduced are passed on to all future generations. No organism exists in isolation. In the long term, even a small change in one organism will affect the whole fabric of life on earth. At this stage, the inherent risks are too great to justify any short-term economic gain. We would therefore encourage a moratorium on all germ-line genetic manipulations.

In the European Parliamentary elections in 1994, the Natural Law Party fielded a full slate of candidates in the UK and over 400 across Europe. In addition to the scientific reasons outlined above for restriction of the use of genetically engineered products, we know from our canvassing that a large proportion of the population supports this viewpoint.

We feel there is an urgent need for government to implement programmes based on complete and holistic scientific knowledge of Natural Law – programmes that will improve the health, well-being, and prosperity of the whole population without the risk of deleterious side-effects.

Thank you for your favourable consideration in this matter."