Archived press release

Gm trials illegal: FOE launches court challenge

20 August 1999

Friends of the Earth representatives will be available for comment outside the High Court at 10.30am

Friends of the Earth will present papers today to the High Court, seeking a judicial review of a key Government decision allowing a major expansion in the growing of GM crops in the UK. The news will severely embarrass the Government, which has bent its own rules to allow biotech giant AgrEvo to rush through an unjustified growth in the farm scale trials.

The Government's decision allowed AgrEvo to
. change the GM crop being tested without submitting a new application
. quadruple the amount of land covered by farm-scale trials, to an area the size of Southampton (from 1,250 ha to 5,000 ha)
. grow the crop for 12 months rather than 6.

The decision was made by officials at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions; it is not even clear if any Government minister was ever consulted. The decision removed any chance of AgrEvo's application being put to the Government's reformed ACRE committee (Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment), which was set up to ensure greater scrutiny of GM development.

In March 1999, AgrEvo UK Ltd was granted a consent, under the EU's Deliberate Release Directive, to release spring oilseed rape varieties genetically modified for herbicide tolerance. On May 7th AgrEvo wrote to the Department of Environment seeking to extend this consent to cover new trials of winter oilseed rape. AgrEvo wished to avoid the need to make a new detailed consent application for these trials.

FOE has obtained copies of the company's correspondence. The company said:

“As you will be aware we need a Deliberate Release consent to enable the Farm Scale Trials in winter oilseed rape to take place. I have discussed the option of submitting a completely new application .... but a more efficient route would appear to be a small variation to add the new sowing dates to ... the current consent ... The current consent refers to approximately 25 sites per year for farm scale trials. In line with proposals for managed development of GM crops we wish to inform you that it is likely to increase to up to 50 sites per crop per year from 2000 onwards.” (Copies of the correspondence are available from FOE Press Office)

Department of Environment officials agreed to this request, and four new farm scale trials were announced on Monday this week (16th August), at Market Raisen and Glentham in Lincolnshire, Bingham in Nottinghamshire, and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.

FOE argues that the short-cut around the consent procedure is unlawful, because:

. the Government gave AgrEvo permission to grow winter oilseed rape but their legal consent only covers spring oilseed crops.

. the new trials raise substantially different environmental risks from the trials governed by the existing consent, because they involve a different crop grown over up to four times the annual surface area of the previous trials.

. existing consents of the kind in question can only be varied where relevant new information becomes available. They cannot lawfully be varied simply to suit the convenience of the biotech company involved.

. permission to change the size of crop trials must be based on a “whole, a priori specified, programme of development” in the original consent. The new trials for winter oilseed rape are not part of the programme originally set out.

Commenting, FOE Policy Director Tony Juniper said:

“We have caught the Government red-handed. They have tried to bend the law to suit a giant GM company in a hurry to get its crops into the UK market.

This case is vital, because it goes to the heart of whether the public can have confidence that GM crop trials are being properly regulated by the Government. The Government needs to learn that if it tries to get round the law to suit the convenience of its friends in the biotech companies, it will be caught, exposed,and then stopped.”

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust