Ministers told: come clean on GM seed rules

Friends of the Earth Cymru has today written to Welsh Agriculture Minister Mike German, to ask whether the Welsh Assembly Government would support plans to make it more difficult for people to object to new genetically modified (GM) crops [1].

The group has written to Mr German after receiving what it described as an "astonishingly evasive" answer from his predecessor Carwyn Jones [2]. Mr Jones has since become Minister for Open Government in the Assembly.

The move came after Friends of the Earth Cymru received a document, apparently from within the UK Government Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs. The memo suggested ways the Government could restrict the grounds on which people can object to the adding of GM Seed varieties to the UK National Seed List [3]. Such a plan would require the support of the Welsh Assembly.

Friends of the Earth Cymru wrote to Mr Jones to ask if he had seen such plans, and whether he would involve Assembly Members in discussion of any proposed changes. Carwyn Jones' response to the Friends of the Earth Cymru letter was brief. He replied that, "It is the policy of the National Assembly Government not to comment on leaked documents".

The group's letter to Mr German does not ask him to comment on any leaked document but to
answer factual questions about how the Assembly Government would deal with such a scenario.

Julian Rosser, Head of Campaigns at Friends of the Earth Cymru commented:

"At a time when public trust of politicians is so low it is a great pity that Carwyn Jones should be hiding behind a defence that he won't comment on leaked documents. The Assembly is supposed to be committed to freedom of information - and of course opposed to GM crops.

"Carwyn Jones should have made clear that the Assembly Government would scupper any plans to restrict people's rights to obect to GM crops. Now we can't be sure where they stand.

"The issue of GM crops will be one of the toughest challenges that even Mr German will have to deal with in Government. Formerly a leading supporter of Friends of the Earth Cymru's GM-Free Welsh Environment Campaign, he has become the man who can stop GM crops being planted in Wales or commercialised in the UK.

"It is now time for Mike German to assert the principles he held before he joined the Cabinet.
He must make it clear that the Coalition Government will have no part in restricting people's
rights to object to GM crops."

Notes

[1] A copy of the letter follows the notes.
[2] Letter from Carwyn Jones to FOE Cymru, 14 June 2002.
[3] Before a Seed Variety can be marketed in the UK it must be added to the UK National Seed List. Members of the public may object to the addition of a seed to the list and have the right to make written representations or appear at a hearing to explain their opposition. The submission appearing to come from DEFRA proposed that "the Seeds (National List of Varieties) regulations 2001 be amended to restrict the criteria which may be challenged by written Representations or a Hearing to those related to Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) and Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU)". This would be a restriction of the grounds on which the public may object to the commercialisation of GM crops in the UK.