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England accepts genetically modified agriculture { March 9 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=472089§ion=newshttp://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=472089§ion=news
Government set to approve GM maize
Tue 9 March, 2004 07:48
By David Cullen
LONDON (Reuters) - The government looks set to approve commercial plantings of a genetically modified (GM) maize, risking the ire of a sceptical public and environmentalists who fear the technology will ruin the countryside and harm human health.
Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett is likely to tell parliament at around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday the government can find no reason to halt commercial plantings of a type of cattle feed maize developed by German chemical giant Bayer because its own research had found it to be safe.
But environmental group Greenpeace said: "There are thousands of people ready to fight this decision in the fields, the streets, the courts and the supermarkets."
Even with government support for GM maize, officials say it could be years before the seeds are grown because strict planting rules and a liability regime -- who pays if it all goes wrong -- could take at least a year to install.
"If the government decided to give the green light for commercial plantings...it's highly unlikely that anything would be in the ground this year -- even 2005 looks optimistic," an agriculture official said.
Labelling rules also need to be in place first, he said.
Separately, EU farm ministers are expected to vote on lifting a five-year ban on GMs next month by authorising imports of a new biotech sweetcorn variety to be sold in tins on shop shelves, diplomats said on Monday.
Another green group, Friends of the Earth (FOE), says it plans to take the government to court if GM maize gets the green light because it believes testing has been shaky.
"The only feeding study to look at the impact of feeding animals the whole plant was severely criticised for poor science...(and) no feeding studies were carried out on cattle at all," FOE said.
More than three years of domestic trials of three gene-altered herbicide-resistant crops found that pesticides used on two of them -- sugar beet and rapeseed -- posed a greater threat to the environment than those used on conventional crops.
Only Bayer 's T25/Chardon LL maize variety fared better.
But supporters of the technology insist that GMO crops are safe.
"Years of mounting scientific evidence from around the world support the conclusion that these crops can be grown and consumed without concern," the Agricultural Biotechnology Commission, which represents the industry in this country, said.
The United States has been lobbying hard across the 15-nation EU to lift the ban and is also bidding to get the World Trade Organisation to declare the curb illegal.
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