Government unveils new GM trials
3 August 2000
Government unveils new GM trials
by FWi staff
THE government has unveiled a new batch of genetically modified crop trials and vowed to press ahead with the controversial experiments.
The announcement came as the House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee released a report criticising ministers handling of GM crops.
A total of 25 new GM sites were announced to test winter oilseed rape engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium.
Glufosinate ammonium is banned between September and March because of the hazards it poses to the environment and water supplies.
About nearly half of the autumn plantings will be made on the same farms or in the same villages as previous trials, Farmers Weekly understands.
Twenty-one of the new trials are in England. Four of the sites are in Scotland.
Environmentalists attacked the governments plans to press ahead with the trials, saying that GM pollen would contaminate surrounding countryside.
Greenpeace campaigner Andy Tait said: The public do not want to eat GM or see it grown in our countryside yet the Government insists on introducing it”.
The announcement came as the House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee released a report on the cross-contamination of non-GM crops.
The Committee said there had been “confusion” inside Whitehall over which department should handle the mix-up that sparked fears over GM crop releases.
Earlier this year, Advanta Seeds UK sold British farmers conventional rapeseed that contained about 1% of genetically modified oilseed rape.
The select committee said clearer procedures should be introduced. “It was obvious that confusion existed as to which ministry should lead on this issue.
“Planting of the new crop of winter oilseed rape begins in August and it is essential that farmers are able to plant these crops with confidence, it added.
The report also called for “urgent regulatory guidance” so that seed companies could to try to prevent future mix-ups.