Archived press release

Gm research to go ahead in foot and mouth zones

26 March 2001

The Government is to allow GM crop research to take place on farms in areas infected with foot and mouth disease Friends of the Earth has discovered. Government guidelines on GM crop trials and the foot and mouth crisis obtained by FOE show that only those farms where the disease is confirmed will be closed to the GM scientists. The Government is due to announce dozens of new GM trial sites later this week [1].

Friends of the Earth believes that as many as eleven Farm Scale Trial sites are already in foot and mouth exclusion zones. Last week a number of farmers from around Britain appealed to MAFF and the DETR to suspend this year's trials to reduce the risk of the foot and mouth virus being spread by scientists [2] visiting the sites. Last week the Pesticide Safety Directive postponed all non-essential field trial visits.

Scientists from five institutions [3] are required to make a number of visits to all the GM sites to monitor wildlife in the trial fields. They will move between farms and between counties. The Department of the Environment has published guidelines for the scientists to disinfect before and after visits, and to leave vehicles off farms. Farmers holding the GM trials are under contract to the biotech industry body SCIMAC.

Pete Riley, Food Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
"It seems the only countryside activity unaffected by the foot and mouth epidemic is the GM crop trials. Despite the fact that there is no demand for GM food, the biotech industry is determined to push ahead with these trials, even in areas infected with this terrible disease, and the Government is equally determined to support them. These GM tests must be halted this year to reduce the risk of spreading foot and mouth further.

Notes to Editors
1. This week up to 32 new sites for GM fodder maize are due to be announced. This will bring the total number of GM farm scale trials to 115.

2. Last week 8 farmers from around the UK wrote to Nick Brown and Michael Meacher asking them to halt the farm scale trials to reduce the risk of moving the foot and mouth disease between farms and counties.

3. The five institutions involved in monitoring the FST are : Institute of Arable Crop Research , Rothamsted;
Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee; Centre for Hydrology and Ecology, Huntingdon; Central Science Laboratory, York; British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust