Government's secret support for GM

The Independent on Sunday recently had an article 'GM: The Secret Files'. It revealed that Ministers are funding genetically modified crop projects with scores of millions of pounds every year and are colluding with a biotech company to ease its GM tests.

Apparently the information on funding proved extraordinarily difficult to get, requiring three months of investigation by an environmental pressure group, a series of parliamentary questions, and three applications for the information. Friends of the Earth finally obtained information which shows that the Government provides at least £50m a year for research
into agricultural biotechnology, largely GM crops and food. This generosity contrasts with the £1.6m given last year for research into organic agriculture, in spite of repeated promises to promote environmentally friendly, "sustainable" farming.

So much for Tony Blair insisting that the Government was "neither for nor against" GM and the then Environment minister, Elliot Morley, saying: "There is an open and transparent process for their assessment and all relevant material will be put in the public domain."

Friends of the Earth's Food Campaigner Kirtana Chandrasekaran said: "Government support for GM is out of all proportion to its non-existent benefits; it is handing out millions of pounds for a technology that has fallen flat on its face. Meanwhile the Government is starving organic farming, which already provides clear benefits for consumers, farmers and the economy, but which is further threatened by increased incidences of GM contamination. There is mounting evidence that GM had been a disaster for farmers and consumers all over the world. The Government must now recognise that it is investing in failure and shift its support to the booming sustainable farming sector."

In fact the GM industry in the UK has benefited not only from funding but also political and regulatory support:

- The Government's advisory committee on GM releases to the environment has called for a system that concentrates on their claimed benefits of GM rather than its risks
- DEFRA consulted with biotech company BASF this year to ensure that conditions for the planting of GM potato trials in Cambridge and Yorkshire were 'acceptable'
- At EU level, the UK has consistently voted against the majority to lift all bans on GM crops put in place by other member states

Amazingly as FoE note in their press release the last Government analysis of GM crops found that they would offer only small benefits for UK farmers. In Spain, the only European country to commercially grow GM crops, the European Commission found that farmers did not receive any significant economic benefits and that seed companies pocketed a large share of farmers' profits. The GM industry's own evaluations show that the industry has suffered from loss in sales, and the loss of 75 biotech companies through mergers and acquisitions. On the other hand, sales of organic food in the UK have increased by 22% in the last year and are touching the £2 billion pound mark. Organic farming is at the forefront of cutting-edge business with 39% of organic farms practising innovative marketing and processing techniques. Furthermore, organic farming consistently performs better on environmental grounds. Evaluations of growing GM herbicide tolerant crops in the UK found that two out of three crops led to reduced food and habitats available for wildlife on farms. DEFRA studies have proven environmental benefits and increased wildlife on organic farms.

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Just recently the European Environment Commissioner, Dimas, was reported to be opposing the cultivation in Europe of 2 new GM maize crops (both Bt) – Syngenta’s Bt11 and Pioneer/Dow’s 1507 because of the risk posed to the environment - see more here - both crops are already approved for import. There is likely to be a lot opposition from other parts of the Commission (e.g. Agriculture, Industry) before the final Commission proposal is agreed. We need to make sure that protecting the environment comes before industry interests and that the Commission agrees a strong position against the cultivation of these two crops.

Please take a minute to take Greenpeace international’s email action at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/getinvolved/support-dimas-on-maize

However it was good to hear France has announced a ban on the planting of genetically engineered crops until the safety of the crops can be further assessed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicted that the decision was based on the desire to err on the side of safety. He said: "I don't want to be in contradiction with EU laws, but I have to make a choice. In line of the precautionary principle, I wish that the commercial cultivation of genetically modified pesticide GMOs be suspended."