Environment groups including the Soil Association have written to the Prime Minister to condemn Owen Paterson’s support for growing GM crops in Britain.
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, GeneWatch UK, GM Freeze and the Soil Associagtion have claimed there is “an urgent need” to strengthen the risk assessment and approvals process for GM crops, rather than fast-track commercial plantings.
The group expressed concernthat some GM crops might be planted in England as early as Spring 2015.
At the EU’s March Environment Council meeting, environment minister Paterson supported a proposal that would fast-track GM crops for commercial cultivation in pro-GM countries, the group said.
The letter said that if GM crops are grown in England, conventional or traditional farmers are likely to be forced to pay the costs of segregation and certification of crops in order to access other GM-free markets.
Soil Association policy director, Peter Melchett, argued that GM contamination would make organic farming in the UK impossible, and the organic market would have to be supplied with imported food.
“The Soil Association hopes that David Cameron does not want to be remembered as the Prime Minister responsible for the beginning of the end of organic farming in England,” Melchett said.
An extract from the letter noted: “Contamination incidents can be caused by inadvertent mixing of crops or seeds anywhere along the supply chain, or by spread of seeds by birds or pollen on the wind.
“Such incidents have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost markets when they have occurred in other countries.
“The existing evidence base shows that herbicide- tolerant crops cause environmental harm, which should be avoided.
“We urge you to reconsider the position adopted by Owen Paterson at the Environment Council on 3 March and withdraw the UK Government’s support for this flawed proposal.”
The first GM crops in the pipeline for approval that are likely to be grown in England are Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GM maize NK603 and Syngenta’s GA21.
Both crops are genetically engineered to withstand blanket spraying with the weedkiller glyphosate, also known as Roundup.
The letter added that previous plans to grow herbicide-tolerant GM crops commercially in the UK were abandoned in 2004 following the Farm Scale Evaluations (FSEs), which showed that blanket spraying with weedkillers destroys habitats for wildlife.
Liz O’Neill, director of GM Freeze, said: 'British consumers don't want to eat GM food and both Scottish and Welsh governments have made it clear they are opposed to GM crops.
“So why are our representatives in Westminster doing their level best to hand over control of our food and our natural environment to big business?' she asked.
Chief scientist for Greenpeace, Doug Parr, claimed that the government reviewed the economic benefits of GM crops and food ten years ago and found they offered little benefit.
He said: “But the UK Government is so in thrall to industry hype that they want to deconstruct the EU single market – previously the only thing about Europe they wanted to keep – in order to grow GM crops that nobody wants.”
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