Ministers under fire over GM trials
4 August 2000
Ministers under fire over GM trials
by Isabel Davies
MINISTERS are under fire for unveiling 25 new GM trials before completing a review on how far away they should be grown from conventional crops.
The government revealed in London on Thursday (3 August) that 25 farmers had agreed to plant GM winter oilseed rape starting this autumn.
But officials admitted that a decision on whether crop separation distances should be increased would probably come after the GM trials have been drilled.
The government had pledged to wait for the findings of a Canadian study into how conventional oilseed belonging to Advanta came to contain GM material.
A Whitehall official estimated that this could take another 4-6 weeks, in other words after this winters GM trial crops are expected to have been drilled.
The National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) has concluded that a separation distance of 100 metres is probably sufficient for crops of oilseed rape.
A recent NIAB report into separation distances came to that conclusion after assuming that a 0.1% level of cross-contamination would be acceptable.
However, 100m is less than the guidelines currently set down by the SCIMAC, the body overseeing the introduction of GM crops in Britain.
SCIMAC suggests a separation distance of 200m which is less again than the distance demanded by the Soil Association which wants a 6km buffer zone.
Liberal Democrat agriculture spokesman Colin Breed said ministers had a three-pronged policy on GMs which amounted to dither, delay and deception.
He added: They announced 25 new trial sites and they are still sitting on the results of consultations into separation distances.
The government must act now to ensure there is proper protection for conventional and organic farmers.
Greenpeace anti-GM campaigner Andy Tait said: The biggest separation distance here is between the government and the public.
But environment minister Michael Meacher defended the trials and claimed that the government was committed to protecting Britains countryside.
Herbicide tolerant crops had already been through one of the toughest regulatory processes, he said, including extensive testing in laboratories.
We cannot take action in respect of GM crops unless we can show evidence that they constitute a risk of harm either to human health or the environment.
This view was echoed by SCIMAC chairman Roger Turner.
The governments research programme will play a key role in answering questions raised about the biodiversity impact of growing GM crops.
There is widespread support for the farm-scale trails and the need for future decisions about GM technology to be based on sound scientific data.