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"Cautious Welcome" over new GM Advisers
18 June 1999
Friends of the Earth has given a cautious welcome to the new membership of ACRE(Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment) - the Government's advisory committee on GM crops. The environmental pressure group is calling on the Government to ask ACRE for an urgent review of all existing GMO marketing and test consents. The call follows concerns over the threats that existing trial sites pose to the environment and the livelihoods of conventional and organic farmers.
Last July Friends of the Earth revealed that most of the thirteen members of the ACRE panel had close links to the biotech industry, and that the panel had never recommended refusal of an application. Environment Minister Michael Meacher subsequently announced that the new ACRE would represent some of the broader concerns that many people had about the new technology.
Pete Riley, Senior Food Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
“The new membership of ACRE is certainly an improvement on the last one, and will hopefully reflect the concerns that most people in the country have about GM crops. However, the new ACRE will be judged on its actions. Its first step must be an urgent review of all the consents for the existing trial sites. It is clear that many of these pose a threat to conventional and organic farming and should be scrapped.”
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jul 2008
