Organic and green groups say that new proposals intended to allow EU states to ban GM crops on environmental grounds could instead create a fast-track for GM crop cultivation in England.
MEPs voted today (13 January) in favour of a new directive that allows individual member states to ban GM crops for a range of reasons – from environmental to socio-economic.
In those parts of Europe that are strongly anti-GM, the directive provides additional legal protection against the US biotech industry, which has been pressuring EU states to approve GM crops. But European organic body IFOAM EU has warned that the new rules place no requirements on those countries with pro-GM instincts, such as the UK and Spain, to ensure that non-GM crops are protected from contamination by GMOs.
The UK’s Soil Association is also extremely concerned about the latest developments. Commenting ahead of today’s vote, Soil Association policy director, Peter Melchett, said: “The EU proposal fails to require countries to ensure that any GM crops grown will not contaminate GM free farms, nor to ensure that the cost of any contamination will fall on the shoulders of the GM companies who own the patented products, not on farmers or food businesses that suffer from pollution.
“The rights of farmers who do not wish to grow GM crops, particularly in England are therefore under threat by this proposal. Indeed, the entire organic sector, growing rapidly in Europe and which may double by 2020, is in danger – as are the rights of anyone who wants to buy GM free foods. This is because experience from the USA has shown that growing GM crops leads to agricultural seeds and food supply chains being contaminated by GM.”
While Wales and Scotland have welcomed the opportunity to confirm their non-GM position, indications are that the UK government would encourage the commercial growing of GM crops in England. Specifically, plans to approve a GM maize crop look to be at an advanced stage. The Guardian today quoted an email from the UK’s head of GM policy and regulation, Sarah Cundy, in which she reportedly tells the National Farmers Union that approval for the so-called ‘supercorn’ is likely in the “near future” and that “future applications should be approved much more quickly than has been the case until now”.
Friends of the Earth’s food campaigner, Clare Oxborrow, said: “(The EU vote) is good news for nations like Scotland and Wales, whose political leaders have opposed GM crops and can now ban them from their fields. But this ruling is a double-edged sword that could open the door to GM crops being grown in England.”
