Archived press release

Government to change law to speed up commercial development of GM crops

26 May 1999

The MAFF move follows a Government climb-down in March, when Friends of the Earth and MPs from all three major Parties [1] sued MAFF over an attempt to extend a non-statutory seed certification scheme to cover GM crops. The scheme would have cut about two years off the timescale for bringing GM crops to the marketplace. Advised by their lawyers that the Government would lose the High Court case, MAFF promised FOE not to extend the non-statutory scheme. But it now plans to change various seed regulations to create a new scheme with exactly the same result.

Before seeds can be marketed, their variety must have been entered on the National List and the seeds themselves must be certified. (For GM seeds, a GMO marketing consent must also be obtained.) To obtain National Listing, a plant variety must be shown to be distinct, stable, uniform and to have value for cultivation and use. To be certified, a seed lot must meet various tests including purity and freedom from disease.

The statutory certification process takes place after the National Listing process has been completed. It should typically take about two to three years. But since 1975 MAFF has allowed a non-statutory certification process to take place before National Listing. This allows seed development and testing in advance, and means that statutory certification can usually be completed immediately after National Listing [2]. MAFF wanted to extend this scheme to cover GM as well as orthodox crops, but retreated after FOE's legal challenge.

MAFF now plans a “new statutory scheme” which “would not differ greatly from current procedures. The proposed statutory arrangements would continue to allow breeders to bulk up supplies of new varieties in advance of National Listing”. The new statutory scheme would cover both GM and non GM crops.

Commenting, FOE Food Campaigner Pete Riley said:

“Here is the gritty reality behind last week's bodged Government spin-job. In March,we caught MAFF trying to speed up the commercial development of GM crops by dodging round the existing law on seed certification. MAFF put their hands up and fled in disorder. But rather than give up, they have simply decided to try to bring in new laws to achieve the same result. This shows clearly that Government policy on GM crops allows for creeping commercialisation. The Government's claim to neutrality in the GM food debate gets more ridiculous by the day. We will be studying these new plans minutely to see if they are as unlawful as the previous arrangements.”

NOTES

[1] The three MPs who have joined FOE in its court action are: Norman Baker (Lib Dem, Lewes), John Randall (Con, Uxbridge) and Alan Simpson (Lab, Nottingham South)

[2] Seeds are certified for marketing on a statutory 'generational ladder', needing certification at each rung of the ladder. For example, the generational ladder for seeds of oilseed rape is: Breeder's Seed [which produces] Pre-Basic Seed [which produces] Basic Seed [which produces] Certified Seed. Only Certified Seed is intended for human and animal consumption, and it is only when this stage is reached that sufficient quantities of seed for full commercialisation will have been built up -MAFF calls this process “bulking up”. Progressing up the generational ladder takes perhaps two to three years. The non-statutory scheme defeated by FOE and the new statutory scheme now planned by MAFF allow provisional certification for every stage up to the production of Certified Seed, before National Listing is completed. Statutory certification as Certified Seed can therefore be granted immediately after Listing and crops can be grown for market at once.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust