GOVERNMENT GETS TOUGH ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROP USE

PA 21.10.98 17:43


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By Amanda Brown, Environment Correspondent, PA News.
The Government has called for tough checks to be carried out and more information to be provided on the use of genetically modified crops, amid growing consumer fears about safety and the environment.
The move was unveiled by Environment Minister Michael Meacher and Food Safety Minister Jeff Rooker at a Lords select committee.
The aim is to boost the number of checks and the amount of up to date information about the fast-moving new technology of transgenic crops.
Environmentalists fear crops genetically engineered to tolerate weed killers and pesticides could have a disastrous effect on the food chain destroying other plant, bird and insect life.
But today both ministers stressed the need for caution to protect biodiversity and human health.
The shake-up in the rules governing genetically modified crops will mean strict monitoring of first commercial plantings. These will be limited and checked for ecological effects along with comparable plantings of conventional crops.
A new ministerial group to look at the whole issue will be set up and chaired by Minister for the Cabinet Office Dr Jack Cunningham.
More checks on herbicide and pesticide tolerant crops will be introduced as well as long-term monitoring arrangements.
Mr Meacher said the Government's aim was to strike the right balance between protecting the environment and human health on one hand, and on the other, maintaining the proper degree of certainty needed by business for the development of new products.
"I think it is right to be cautious at this relatively early stage of the use of the technology in the environment and to make sure that for every product we have practical evidence on safety before we take a decision to move to commercialisation.
"We have reached agreement in principle with the plant breeding industry for a programme of managed development of herbicide tolerant GM crops whereby the first farm-scale plantings are strictly limited and monitored for ecological effects along with comparable plantings of conventional crops.
"The process will be underpinned by the strict guidelines for best practice in using GM crops referred to by Jeff Rooker.
"The results of these farm-scale evaluations will be carefully assessed before moving further.
"I feel it is extremely important that we do not travel further down the road to commercialisation of GM crops before we have this information. If, during this process, we find evidence of harm we can take appropriate action."

Jonathan Curtoys, agricultural policy officer with the RSPB, said: "These proposals will give a valuable breathing space to the Government but should not be seen as giving the green light to the GM crops industry.
"Any attempt to release GM crops on a commercial scale before we have fully assessed the environmental impacts would be foolhardy."
Dr Brian Johnson, English Nature's adviser on GM crops, said: "The introduction of GM crops on a commercial scale may be a revolution in farming as profound as that which happened when intensive farming was introduced in the 1950s.
"Conservation agencies have been concerned for some time that the use of GM herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant crops could greatly reduce weeds and insects on farmland, which in turn might threaten the survival of several species of farmland birds.
"The delay in introducing these GM crops announced today will give time for further research into the effects."
Greenpeace campaign director, Dr Doug Parr, said: "The Government has been driven to respond to wide public antipathy on GM organisms but the biotechnology industry is still dictating the terms."
Tony Juniper, policy and campaigns director at Friends of the Earth, said: "The measures outlined today are not sufficient to assess and prevent the potential negative impacts of these new crops on the environment and public health.
"We need a five year moratorium on the commercial growing and import of these foods with any further testing confined to finding out what these plants will do to our wildlife, countryside and health."

Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Norman Baker MP said the Government's agreement to the monitoring of GM crops and a ministerial group to examine the issue is welcome, but insufficient to allay concerns over their safety.
He said: "Michael Meacher is doing his best, but these recommendations are too little too late. Any moratorium on GM crops should extend for five years, rather than one or three to give time for conclusive research to be carried out.
"The Government can also do much to improve co-ordination between its own departments on this matter. They should also take the opportunity to insist upon clear labelling of GM food products, and on strict segregation of unmodified crops from GM alternatives."

Dr Cunningham tonight highlighted his new role as chairman of the new ministerial group of biotechnology and genetic modification when he delivered the Lady Eve Balfour Memorial Lecture to the Soil Association's Organic Harvest Dinner at London's Cafe Royal The group's terms of reference are "to consider issues relating to biotechnology, in particular those arising from genetic modification".
:: In his lecture, Dr Cunningham spelled out Government progress since May last year in supporting organic farming.
This included increasing the budget for research and development to 1.5 million, making more resources available to the Organic Conversion Information Service, almost doubling aid offered under the organic aid scheme and lifting the restriction on the area of land that can benefit from aid.
He urged the organic movement to promote to farmers the opportunities generated by increasing consumer demand for organic food.
The sector has grown by 250% in five years, but still consists largely of imports.

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