UK lags Behind Europe on GM Regulation25 June 1999
Friends of the Earth slammed the UK Government over its failure to sign up to a ban on genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe.
The ban was proposed or implied in two declarations discussed by EU ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg, and was supported by all EU countries except the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. The bans would have stopped commercial growing until the newly amended GM Directive (90/220) is in place, which may not be until 2002.
The UK argued that a moratorium would be illegal under the rules of the World Trade Organisation. But FOE and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have previously commissioned and published a legal opinion from a leading international lawyer explaining how a moratorium could be legally imposed. Now, the UK's weak stance against the GM multinationals could mean that this country will become the open-air laboratory for GM crop testing for the whole of Europe.
However, FOE has broadly welcomed the contents of the revised Directive which places tighter controls on the development, testing and commercial licensing of crops.
Get these updates first
If you would like these news updates to be emailed to you as soon as they come out, then join our real food mailing list.
Register Here
News
