Swiss citizens backed a five-year moratorium on commercial release of genetically modified plants and animals, despite opposition from their government and industry groups. Fifty-five percent of the voters backed the moratorium. The ballot initiative followed the collection of 100,000 signatures opposing a 2004 law approving commercial release of genetically engineered crops. "All the farmers' organisations were behind this proposal, which they see as a chance for Swiss agriculture," Daniel Ammann, a spokesman for the pro-moratorium coalition, told Reuters. Adrian Bebb, from Friends of the Earth, said [3] the vote showed that "the public doesn't want to eat genetically modified food." Two of the companies opposing the moratorium were Swiss-based Syngenta [4] and Nestle [5].