http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environmental_audit_committee/eac_05_03_04.cfmEnvironmental Audit Committee
5 March 2004
No Basis for GM ApprovalsThe Environmental Audit Committee has today published its Report, GM Food – Evaluating the Farm Scale Trials, HC 90, the Second EAC Report of Session 2003-4.
The Report, unanimously agreed by a cross-Party group of MP’s, examines the design and operation of the recent farm scale evaluations (FSEs). It looks into the background of FSEs and puts the results into the context of the Government-led debate on GM, and concerns about the general decline of biodiversity in the farmed environment.
The Committee in its Report sets out 27 Recommendations and Conclusions, amongst which are:
a) “We are concerned that the GMHT forage maize trials were based on an unsatisfactory, indeed invalid, comparison. It is vital that the Government permit no commercial planting of GMHT forage maize until that crop is thoroughly re-trialled against a non-GM equivalent grown without the use of atrazine.” (Paragraph 14)
b) “It is inconceivable that beet or spring-sown oilseed rape will be given consents to be grown if managed under the same regime as applied in the FSEs.” (Paragraph 63)
c) “We are very concerned about possible contamination by gene-flow and pollen spread of non-GM crops and insist that the issue of liability be settled before any GM crops are allowed to be commercially grown in the UK.” (Paragraph 38)
d) “We recommend that future GM crop assessments of biodiversity impact should be no shorter than four years.” (Paragraph 67)
e) “No decision to proceed with the commercial growing of GM crops should be made until thorough research into the experience with GM crops in north America has been completed and published.” (Paragraph 31)
f) “We recommend that in future trials the biodiversity benchmark against which GM crops should be assessed should be that associated with the less intensive and more biodiversity friendly end of the spectrum found in UK agriculture, such as organic crops.” (Paragraph 73)
g) “The scope of the trials was very narrow and the results cannot be regarded as adequate grounds for a decision to be taken in favour of commercialisation.” (Paragraph 74)
h) “It would be irresponsible of the Government to permit the commercialisation of GM crops on the basis of one narrow component of the entire evaluation of GM technology. This would be the case even were there no significant doubts as to the robustness, validity and relevance of the FSE results.” (Paragraph 75)
Peter Ainsworth MP, Chairman of EAC, said: “Leaked minutes from a Cabinet Sub-Committee suggest that a decision to open the door to the commercial growing of GM Crops is imminent. As our Report makes clear, any such decision would be irresponsible in the light of the evidence available from the trials. No substantive Ministerial announcements should be made until the Government has formally responded to the issues raised in this Report. I am writing to the Secretary of State today to emphasise this point.”
Peter Ainsworth MP will be available for interviews today concerning the report on 020 7219 5078.
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Notes for Editors
The Committee announced its inquiry into GM Food – Evaluating the Farm Scale Trials in a press release on 18 September 2003. Details of all the Committee’s press releases and inquiries, together with its Reports, oral evidence and other publications, are available on the Committee’s Internet home page, which can be found at: www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/environmental_audit_committee.cfm