Assembly put forward GM free Wales

Assembly Members (AMs) from all parties have put forward a motion for Friends of the Earth (FOE) Cymru's legal opinion for a GM-Free Welsh environment [1] to be adopted as Assembly policy. The group is now calling on the Assembly's Business Secretary, Andrew Davies, to give the full Assembly an opportunity to discuss the motion as a matter of urgency.

FOE Cymru has congratulated Mike German, Jocelyn Davies, Nick Bourne and Ron Davies, who signed the motion, for their swift action. However, the motion has been tabled as a ‘No Named Day Motion' [2]. It is now for Andrew Davies to decide when it can go onto the Plenary agenda which will give the full Assembly the chance to discuss it.

Jenny Randerson, Liberal Democrat AM will bring up the motion for discussion in the Business Committee meeting on Tuesday. FOE Cymru is urging Andrew Davies to put it on the Plenary agenda as soon as possible.

The motion for a GM-Free Welsh Environment is based on independent legal advice commissioned by FOE Cymru. The motion states that the Assembly will not permit GM crop releases in the Welsh Environment unless it can be satisfied that to do so would be safe for human health and the environment [1].

Raoul Bhambral, GM Campaigner for FOE Cymru said:

"This is the first step that the Assembly must take to achieve a GM-Free Welsh Environment. This will ensure that it has the chance to discuss any future experimental releases of GM crops in Wales. The next step will be to ensure that the Government consults the Assembly on any future commercial releases. We are seeking legal advice on this which we will offer the Assembly in the near future. "

Mike German, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Assembly said,

" It is essential that the Assembly have the chance to discuss this motion as soon as possible. We need to take control of the GM situation in Wales and ensure that the Assembly's preference for a GM-Free Welsh environment is respected. Andrew Davies must recognise the urgency of this and act accordingly. We will be joining with other parties to suspend Assembly business if Labour doesn't agree to debate this motion soon."

Jocelyn Davies, Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East, commented:

" The Government of Wales' actions contradicts their sentiments. If they are serious about promoting Welsh food produce and protecting the environment, they should do everything that is in their powers to prevent the creep of GMOs. It is both the will of the National Assembly and of the Welsh public to exclude GMOs from Wales. The government has a duty to act upon this will. "

Ron Davies, Labour AM for Caerphilly, remarked:

" The case for a GM-free Wales is as strong as ever. The events of the last couple of days should encourage us to redouble our efforts."

Nick Bourne, Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party added:

" The Assembly Secretary for Agriculture & Rural Development has failed to address the concerns of the National Assembly for Wales , with regards to GM testing, and by failing to secure a GM-Free environment in Wales. This is why the Welsh Conservative party has tabled a motion of censure against Christine Gwyther. Cross party support for our censure motion would send a clear mandate to the first secretary, Rhodri Morgan to address this issue and appoint to post a person who is capable of working pro-actively towards addressing this important issue. "

Notes

[1] Michael Fordham and Kate Gallafent have provided an opinion on the powers of the Assembly on granting future pre-commercial marketing consents under section 111 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The second paragraph of that opinion, in conjunction with paragraph 12 (with amendments simply replacing ‘Welsh Assembly' by the ‘National Assembly for Wales', and ‘Welsh sites' by ‘sites in Wales') reads as follows:

" The general policy of the National Assembly for Wales in respect of its (transferred) functions under section 111 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 of determining applications for consent to release GMOs into the Welsh environment, is not to grant such consents unless the position is that sufficient information is available to the Assembly to enable it to conclude with confidence that the release is not capable of causing damage to the Welsh environment by harming the health of humans or other living organisms or interfering with their ecological systems. However, the Assembly will consider any representations as to whether it should give consent in a particular case, even where the position is otherwise. In addition, the Assembly shall have regard to the above general policy in respect of existing simplified procedure consents under section 111, where the holder of such a consent wishes to add a site in Wales to a programme of development of work."

The legal opinion is entitled " Powers of the Welsh Assembly regarding the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms " and was presented to the Assembly on the 9th March 2000. Copies are available on request.

[2] A motion needs to be passed by the full Assembly before it can become Assembly policy. There are two types of motions, Named Day Motions, which already have a date specified for discussion, and No Named Day Motions, which rely on the Business Committee to set a date.