Archived press release

Government slammed over green light for GM potato trials

1 December 2006

The Government has today given the green light for German biotech company BASF to grow GM potatoes experimentally in the UK. The decision, which will result in the first outdoor experiment of GM crops for three years, has been criticised by Friends of the Earth because of the risk of contamination of the food chain and the lack of need or demand for the product.

Friends of the Earth GM Campaigner, Clare Oxborrow said:

"These GM trials pose a significant contamination threat to future potato crops. We don't need GM potatoes and there is no consumer demand for them. Even the county council and the food industry have raised concerns about the impacts should the trials go ahead. The Government should promote safe and sustainable agriculture, not this half-baked GM potato plan."

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs David Miliband approved the application by BASF to trial GM blight resistant potatoes at two sites in the UK, in Derbyshire and Cambridge [1]. The biotech company plans to plant the GM potatoes from April 2007 for a period of five years.

BASF applied to trial the GM potatoes in Ireland last year, but pulled out because of the strict conditions imposedby the Irish authorities. The conditions imposed today by DEFRA are not as strict and could lead to GM contamination of the food chain.

Defra approved the application despite the fact that all responses to its public consultation over the application objected to the trials going ahead [2]. Those raising concerns included Derbyshire County Council, and the British Potato Council and McCain who were specifically concerned about the risk of negative consumer perception.

Friends of the Earth objects [3] to the trials because:

Any GM potatoes left in the ground after the experiment risk contaminating future food crops;

BASF has failed to provide safety data for the GM potato. This is vital to reassure the public if the food chain is contaminated;

There is no need for the product - alternative methods exist for controlling potato blight and a GM `quick fix' is unlikely to provide a long term solution;

There is a clear lack of consumer demand and market - consumers have rejected GM foods and food retailers and manufactures have responded by eliminating GM ingredients from their products.

Although BASF plan to destroy the crops at end of the trials to attempt to prevent them entering the food chain, the experience of GM rice in the USA, where an experimental GM rice line has contaminated worldwide rice supplies, shows that these experiments are not always containable. Rice, like potatoes, has been considered a `low risk' GM crop for contamination, due to the low levels of cross pollination expected. Yet recent events would indicate that even supposedly `low risk' crops can be involved in serious GM contamination incidents.

The Government recently consulted the public separately on its proposals for the rules needed to grow GM crops commercially alongside conventional and organic crops. Thousands of people objected to their proposals, which, if agreed, are likely to result in routine and unlabelled GM contamination [4].

Notes

[1] www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/regulation/applications/06-r42-01.htm

[2] Friends of the Earth requested from Defra the responses to the public consultation on the GM potato trials and have been sent a total of fourteen responses from organisations and individuals.

[3] For Friends of the Earth's full response see: www.foe.co.uk/resource/consultation_responses/gm_potato_objection.pdf (PDF†)

[4] See www.stopgmcontamination.org

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust