Archived press release

Bristol goes GM-free

10 September 2003

Bristol City Council voted last night (Wednesday) to become a GM-free zone, joining a growing number of local authorities around the country responding to public concerns about the effects of eating and growing GM crops.

Friends of the Earth, which is campaigning for a GM-free Britain [1], welcomed the motion, which was passed unopposed. Bristol City Council is the latest authority to go GM-free, following Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, the Lake District National Park and the Welsh National Assembly. A number of district and town councils have also voted to go GM-free.

Bristol City Council declared itself a GM-free zone and voted to act to ensure no GM crops are grown on land it controls; to adopt a GM-free policy barring GM food from its services like school meals; and to apply to use a new European law [2] to prevent GM crops from being grown [3].

Commenting, Friends of the Earth's Regional Campaigner Mike Birkin said:

"This is great news for people in Bristol who are rightly concerned about the impact of GM crops and food. Up and down the country local authorities are sending a clear message to the Government that they do not want GM. It is now up to Tony Blair to listen to what the country is saying and ensure Britain remains GM-free."

Notes

[1] See www.gmfreebritain.com

[2] Councils can request legal protection of their areas from particular GM crops using Article 19 of the Deliberate Release Directive 2001/19/EC. For more explanation see briefing on GM-Free local areas:
www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/gmfree_local_areas.pdf (PDF format)

[3] Full text of Bristol City Council motion, 9th September 2003

Moved by Councillor Denis Brown

"This Council recognises that:

1. genetic modification of crop plants is a rapidly advancing new branch of science and technology;
2. the recent Government report shows that there is still scientific debate about the safety of GM crops;
3. the commercial growing of GM crops present, legal, social and ethical problems that have not yet been properly addressed;
4. there is widespread public concern about GM products and many people are concerned that there is a risk that they might be unwittingly exposed to them.

The Council therefore declares that the City of Bristol will, as far as is possible, control the growth of GM crops and the use of GM food and feed.

This Council therefore commits to:

1. providing GM-free goods and services for all areas where the Council has a direct responsibility;
2. considering each prospective GMO Marketing Consent and, where appropriate, writing to both the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the European Commission requesting that a condition under Article 19(3)(c) of 2001/18/EC be added to such marketing consent so as to exempt Bristol City Council from the scope of such consent;
3. ensuring that no GM crops are grown on land over which it has control;
4. declare Bristol City Council to be a GM-Free Zone;
5. charging an appropriate body of councillors with the duty of monitoring and keeping under review the implementation of these commitments."

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust