Top briefs say pants to GM

Friends of the Earth Cymru stepped up the pace of its campaign against genetically modified (GM) crops today with the launch of a cheeky billboard outside the Welsh Assembly Building in Cardiff Bay. The billboard shows a man in his underwear with his hands in a defensive position and bears the message "Keep Our Meat and Veg GM Free" in English and Welsh [1].

The launch of the billboard coincides with the publication of a recent legal Opinion from top lawyers, Nicholas Cooke QC and Stephen Cragg [2], which makes it clear that the Assembly does have the legal power to refuse to add the GM maize variety ChardonLL to the National List of Seed Varieties.

This means it can also resist the first step towards commercialisation of GM crops across the UK. Importantly, this legal Opinion is in stark contrast to earlier advice given to the Assembly by the Office of the Counsel General, which argued that the Assembly's discretion was much more limited [3]. It was largely as a result of that earlier advice that former Assembly Agriculture Secretary, Christine Gwyther, felt compelled to propose ChardonLL for addition to the National List in March 2000, against the wishes of the Assembly's own Agriculture Committee [4].

There is cross-party consensus in the Assembly against GM crops. Welsh First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, has said that it is the Assembly Government's policy "for Wales to be GM-free" [5] and the Assembly has taken a lead in Europe by setting legally binding distances between GM and non-GM crops [6]. But the Assembly has faced criticism for not being willing to stand up to Whitehall on key issues such as the question of adding ChardonLL to the National List.

Friends of the Earth Cymru, working with the Farmers Union of Wales, the National Federation of Women's Institutes Wales and GM Free Cymru has called on the Assembly Government to keep Wales GM Free [7]. One of the groups' key demands is that the Assembly should refuse to add the GM maize variety ChardonLL to the UK's "National List of Seed Varieties" - the final hurdle in commercialisation of GM crops in the UK.

Friends of the Earth Cymru Head of Campaigns Julian Rosser said:

"Welsh Assembly Government lawyers have been saying for years that the Assembly has little scope to resist the commercialisation of GM crops in the UK. This powerfully argued legal Opinion from one of Wales' most respected barristers blows that claim right out of the water.

"Despite growing environmental and health concerns, the UK Government still seems hell bent on pushing GM crops onto the market before they have been proven safe. We say that they have to ensure that more research is done before the Assembly could approve the first GM seed for addition to the National List.

"We hope that the combination of a first class legal opinion with an eye-catching billboard will bring this issue home to Assembly Members as they consider their response to the prospective commercialisation of GM crops in the UK."

Notes

[1] Electronic versions of the billboard artwork are available from Friends of the Earth Cymru.

[2] Nicholas Cooke QC is the leading barrister in Local Government Law in Wales. He is based in 9 Park Place Chambers, Cardiff. Stephen Cragg is a specialist in Public Law in social welfare and human rights areas. He is based in Doughty Street Chambers, London. A full version of the opinion is available from Friends of the Earth

[3] Friends of the Earth argues that ChardonLL should not be added to the National List in part because Article 4.4 of the EU Common Catalogue Directive (Directive 2002/53) states that a seed variety must not be added to the list unless "all appropriate measures have been taken to avoid adverse effects on human health and the environment". Assembly lawyers (in the Office of the Counsel General) argue that this condition is fulfilled because the ChardonLL is a variety of T25 maize which already has a license to be marketed across Europe under the Deliberate Release Directive. The Assembly lawyers therefore argue that Art. 4.4 cannot be used as a legal basis for refusing to add ChardonLL to the National List of Seed Varieties. The Opinion of Nicholas Cooke QC and Steven Cragg states that : "In our view this argument is misconceived" (paragraph 33). The barristers conclude that "Thus, in our view, there is a strong argument that the requirement in Art 4(4) to ensure that all appropriate measures have been taken before a variety is 'accepted' is wholly separate from (and additional to) the specific requirement that a variety may only be added to the List when it has a Part C Consent under the Deliberate Release Directive" (paragraph 37).

[4] Christine Gwyther's decision to "propose" ChardonLL's addition to the National List was taken in tandem with other ministers from the UK's devolved authorities and the UK Government. This decision was opposed by many farmers and environmentalists whose objections triggered public hearings into the seed variety. The final report from those hearings was handed to ministers in December 2002. Assembly Agriculture Minister, Mike German, must now make a final decision, in conjunction with other UK Ministers, on whether to add the seed to the National List.

[5] "Our policy is for Wales to be GM-free. It is an important marketing advantage for Wales, as it fits in with the 'green' image and the trend in Welsh agriculture away from intensive farming towards more organic and traditional methods. Being GM free will help us gain a niche at that end of the agricultural market." Rhodri Morgan AM, National Assembly for Wales, 15 October 2002.

The Assembly unanimously passed a restrictive motion against GM crop planting in Wales in 2000. The motion, drafted in conjunction with Friends of the Earth, makes it formal policy that the Assembly will not grant consents for experimental releases of GM crops, "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."
No GM crops were grown in Wales in 2002 after UK Government trials in Wales were condemned by environmentalists, farmers and Assembly Ministers in the preceding two years.

[6] In May 2001 the Assembly imposed an "Environmental Prohibition Order" on a trial of ChardonLL maize in Flintshire setting a statutory separation distance between GM maize and other maize crops. This is the first time any authority in Europe has set a legally binding separation distance.

[7] For more information see www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/naw_gm_crops.pdf (PDF† 141K)

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