Tell consumers theyre wrong on GM
24 September 2001
‘Tell consumers they’re wrong on GM’
By Philip Clarke, Europe editor
AGRICULTURAL policymakers should be prepared to stand up and tell consumers they are wrong about genetically modified foods.
Addressing this weeks Congress of European Agriculture in Belfast, Belgian farm minister Annemie Neyts said consumers still needed to be able to make a clear choice.
Clear labelling of GM foods was a prerequisite.
But the views of single-issue pressure groups should not be allowed to shape future policy.
“We must not follow consumers into whatever folly may seize them,” she said.
She was particularly concerned that, during recent discussions among farm ministers on the new technologies, only one member state – the UK – had mentioned the interests of farmers.
Everyone else was only concerned with consumers.
These views were supported by former NFU president David Naish.
He said the EU was in danger of being left behind, if policy makers only listened to the single-issue pressure groups.
But junior Defra minister Lord Whitty said the whole area was still fraught with uncertainty.
The advantages of GMs to producers were in many cases unproven, while consumers viewed the subject with hostility.
Governments responsibility was to carry out trials to substantiate the evidence, one way or the other.
Its job was to inform, to educate and to regulate. But ultimately it was up to consumers to choose.
The fact that European citizens were so against GM foods had taken a number of US manufacturers by surprise, Peter Kurz, agriculture specialist at the US embassy, told the congress.
“US consumers just dont share those concerns,” he said.
GM foods had been around for a long time and the American people had greater faith in their regulatory authorities.
But those who had tried to ignore the demands of the EU market had come unstuck and lost market share.
Consumer concerns had to be taken seriously.