Archived press release

Government to give GM crops the green light?

21 September 2003

Friends of the Earth has reacted angrily to reports that the Government is To pave the way for GM crops to be commercially grown in the UK by backing European Commission guidelines "banning GM-free zones and allowing the co-existence of GM with conventional crops" [1]

Today's Sunday Times reports correspondence between Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett and cabinet colleagues which spells out Government support for the proposals which are due to be discussed at an EU Agriculture Ministers meeting later this month. UK ministers are also keen to avoid upsetting the US, which has launched a legal action against the EU under world trade rules. In her reply, Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt says "We must also bear in mind the potential impact [on] EU-US relations".

However, Friends of the Earth insists that it is possible to establish GM-free zones in Europe. Under Article 19 of an EU GM Directive (Deliberate Release Directive 2001/18/EC) particular geographical areas or habitats/ecological zones can be excluded from GM marketing consents on a case by case basis, provided the environmental case can be made. Upper Austria's failed bid for a blanket GM ban [2] used different regulations - EU Treaty (Article 95(5)). A number of local authorities have already voted to become GM-free and are due to use Article 19 to help achieve it. See Gmfreebritain.com

Later this week the results of the Government's GM consultation exercise, GM Nation, will be published [3]. These are expected to show wide-spread opposition to GM food and crops. During the GM debate earlier this year, it was revealed that GM crops offer little economic benefit [4] and that scientific uncertainties about their potentially damaging impacts [5] remain.

European opinion polls show that 70 per cent of Europeans do not want GM food and 94 per cent want to be able to choose whether or not they eat it.

Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner Clare Oxborrow said:

"The Government's consultation on GM crops revealed that they are unnecessary, unpopular and offer no economic benefit. But despite this overwhelming thumbs down, they still seem determined to press ahead with their commercialisation. If this happens it will lead to extensive contamination and take away people's right to choose GM-free food.

"There is widespread support throughout Britain and the EU for GM-free zones, and European law allows this. The Government should back UK local authorities who are using this legislation to protect their food, farming and environment from GM contamination, rather than caving in to pressure from the US Government and its biotech backers."

Notes

[1] The European Commission has published guidelines on coexistence, but will not pass binding legislation. Instead, under a new amendment to EU law, Member States "may take measures to prevent contamination" of conventional and organic crops by GM crops. It is likely that countries such as Austria will choose to put in place much stricter measures than the UK.

[2] An EU ruling on 2 September 2003 that Upper Austria cannot declare itself a GM-free Zone will not impact on those UK local authorities that have voted to exclude GM crops from their areas. See www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/local_authorities_can_stil.html

[3] www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/scepticism_as_gm_debate_en.html

[4] www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/government_report_on_econo.html

[5] www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/uncertainty_over_gm_safety.html

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust