Who Pays for GM Damage?30 June 1999
Friends of the Earth (FOE) has begun a campaign, together with Labour MP Alan Simpson, to make the producers of genetically modified (GM) food and crops legally liable for any health or environmental damage they may cause.
Last month Mr. Simpson presented the Genetically Modified Food and Producer Liability Bill, drafted with help from Friends of the Earth, to Parliament. The Bill would mean that biotechnology companies, their directors and managers would be liable for any health or environmental damage their products may cause, unless they could show that they did all in their power to prevent it. FOE called on the Government to support the principles of Mr Simpson's Bill and to give it adequate parliamentary time.
FOE has warned that the absence of clear legislation on liability could lead to a "riot of legal claims" as consumers, farmers, retailers and GM companies fight out the issue in the courts. Leading insurance companies and liability lawyers are already concerned that GM companies could find it hard to obtain adequate cover against any claim for damages. For example, if pollen from a GM crop grown in a farm-scale trial contaminated a nearby organic farm, it is not clear who the organic farmer should sue - the company that designed the crop or the farmer who grew it. In the event of any health damage from GM food, liability might be faced by the GM company, the food manufacturer who has used GM ingredients, or the retailer who sold the food to the consumer.
FOE has demanded that current GM trials should be abandoned and that no consent for release or marketing of GM food or crops should be granted until clear legislation on liability is in place.
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