GM trial in Wales not England!

Despite the Government's efforts to hoodwink the Welsh public, Friends of the Earth Cymru has discovered that there is a GM farm scale trial in Wales. The Government has indicated the site is in Cheshire, but the farm is actually over the Welsh border [1]

Raoul Bhambral, GM Campaigner for FOE Cymru said:

"This is an absolute disgrace. The Government have announced a GM trial to be in Cheshire, England, yet the actual field is in Wales! The Welsh public will not be happy about being hoodwinked in this way.

" Ironically the trial is for the very GM maize that the Agriculture Secretary, Christine Gwyther, had the chance to block from entry onto the market [2]; now it's come back to haunt her. So much for Christine wanting a GM-free market advantage for Welsh produce.

" Now that Wales has a GM site, we can't guarantee that produce grown in that area will not be contaminated. Non-GM maize farmers, organic farmers and beekeepers in North Wales will be furious that the Government has no concern for their livelihoods. Especially as nobody in the area has been consulted about the trial.

" The Government have been banging on about informing the public but this is misinformation, pure and simple. If they can't even get details on the World Wide Web right, what faith can we have in anything else they say about GM? "

Notes

1 The site is indicated on the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions' website as being near Sealand, Cheshire. But Sealand is in Wales, as is the farm intended to grow the GM crop.

2 On the 29th of March 2000, Christine Gwyther, the Agriculture Secretary approved a decision to put the first GM seed onto the UK National Seed List. The List is the final regulatory hurdle that a seed variety has to clear before it can be marketed in the UK.