Friends of the Earth Press Release

Immediate Release: Thursday 20 July

UK GOVERNMENT GM CONSULTATION SLAMMED

Government’s GM ‘coexistence’ plans are a sham

A Government consultation launched today, on how GM and non-GM crops can
‘co-exist’ in Britain, is a thinly disguised attempt to allow GM crops
in through the back door, warned Friends of the Earth.

The public consultation [1] seeks views on what practical measures are
needed to allow GM crops to ‘coexist’ with conventional and organic
crops and who should pay when farmers suffer economic damage caused by
GM contamination. But the crucial issue of how to ensure that non-GM
crops are protected from GM contamination will not be asked, because the
Government’s consultation assumes that significant levels of GM
contamination are acceptable.

The consultation is being carried out under EU rules whereby member
states can put in place measures to prevent GM contamination of non-GM
crops. But under European food labelling rules, accidental GM
contamination of up to 0.9 per cent is allowed before foods have to be
labelled as GM. The UK Government has taken this to mean that 0.9 per
cent GM contamination in conventional, and potentially even in organic,
crops is acceptable. [2] This approach has been criticised in a legal
opinion from an expert in European law, as being “fundamentally flawed”
and “wrong in law”.

The consultation also questions whether public registers of GM crop
locations will be necessary. Friends of the Earth believes that the
public has a right to know full details of where GM crops are being
grown, and public registers must be made mandatory.

Friends of the Earth’s GM campaigner, Clare Oxborrow said:

“This consultation is a complete sham. It highlights the lengths the
Government will go to back the biotech industry and pave the way for GM
crops to be grown in Britain. The only way biotech companies will be
able to grow their crops on a large scale is to allow widespread GM
contamination of conventional and organic crops. And this is exactly
what the UK Government is preparing to do.

“The Government is cynically disregarding the millions of British
consumers who have clearly said they want their food, farming and
environment to stay GM-free. We urge the public to take part in this
consultation and make it clear that GM-free should mean GM-free, and
that Government plans to allow GM in through the back door are
completely unacceptable.”

Friends of the Earth says the Government should:

· Put in place strict rules aimed at preventing GM contamination of all
non-GM crops, down to the limit of detection, currently 0.1 per cent;

· Introduce legislation to ensure that biotech companies are strictly
liable for any damage to the environment and to farmers’ livelihoods;

· Support the growing demand for local decision-making on GM crops. In
the UK 60 local authorities have passed resolutions opposing GM crops in
their areas, covering a population of 18.5 million people [3].

Although there are no GM crops being grown in the UK, either
commercially or in outdoor trials, biotech companies have lodged 12
applications to grow GM crops in Europe, which, if approved, could be
grown in the UK.

The deadline for responses to the consultation is 20 October 2006.

Notes

[1]
 http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/gmnongm-coexist/consultdoc.pdf

[2] Page 10 of the consultation document (above) says:

"...any statutory coexistence measures must aim to minimise unwanted GM
transfer into non-GM crops so that they do not exceed the EU 0.9%
threshold."

"...The 0.9% figure is a level that food and feed supply chains should
in general be able to observe with measures that do not impose an
excessive burden. Coexistence can only work on the basis of a pragmatic
threshold"

[3] The Government is consulting on:

• Options for practical measures which aim to keep GM contamination
below the 0.9 per cent labelling threshold set by the EU.

• Whether a threshold below 0.9% should apply to organic production

• Options for compensation to farmers if their crops are contaminated.

• Advice to farmers on setting up voluntary GM free zones


--
Liz Wright

GM Campaigner
Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

74 Kirkgate
Leeds
LS2 7DJ

Tel: +44 (0)113 389 9957
Fax: +44 (0)113 242 8154

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