Advanta admits separation distances in UK far closer than Canada

Advanta, the company at the centre of the recent seed contamination scandal told a committee of Mps that the separation distances between its conventional oil seed rape crops in Canada and genetically modified crops was 4000 metres - 80 times the separation distances used in the UK. In a press release issued at the time the Government said that the crops "appear to have been affected by growing too close to GM rapeseed".

Friends of the Earth Real Food Campaigner, Adrian Bebb, said: "This is a staggering revelation. To continue with the outdoor testing of GM crops in this country puts conventional farmers and the environment at an unacceptable risk. The Government must immediately suspend the farm-scale trials pending a thorough investigation into separation distances. It is clear that the public have been sold a pup by the biotech industry. How much longer will the Government allow these companies to gamble with our countryside?"