Home > Press releases > 2004 > BIOTECH FIRM DITCHES GM MAIZE PLANS
Mar 31 2004
Biotech firm Bayer has shelved plans to commercialise its GM maize, Chardon LL, because the Government wants to impose conditions on its cultivation in order to protect the environment. Bayer said this would make Chardon LL "economically unviable".
Chardon LL, was given limited Government approval earlier this month. Its withdrawal means that GM crops are unlikely to be grown in the UK until 2008 at the earliest.
Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner Pete Riley said:
"This is very welcome news.This GM maize had serious question marks about its safety and performance and should never have been given UK approval. But this was ignored by Bayer and the Government in their blind rush to push GM on the public".
"This episode will be acutely embarrassing to Ministers, and of deep concern to Bayer's shareholders. The Government must now abandon this dangerous and unpopular technology and concentrate on protecting our food, farming and environment from GM contamination and put real effort into genuinely sustainable agriculture."
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
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