European consultation on GM animals
http://www.genewatch.org/sub-570976

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a consultation on environmental risk assessment of genetically modified GM fish, insects, birds, and mammals (including pets, wild and farm animals) in the European Union (EU).

This consultation is intended to pave the way for the introduction of many different types of GM animals into the European countryside, rivers or seas, their use in factory farming, and even their introduction as pets into people's homes.

If you are concerned about this, see the "what you can do" section on this page.

EFSA's remit is to assess risks in the food chain, it therefore has no competence to assess the impacts on other species of releasing these GM animals into the environment.
What is included in the EFSA consultation?

The consultation includes:

    GM fish. The section on GM fish is designed to facilitate the introduction of GM salmon produced by the company Aquabounty. There are major concerns that these fish could damage wild salmon populations if they escape into the environment. Other GM fish species are expected to be introduced if GM salmon is approved.

    GM insects. The section of the consultation on GM insects has been heavily influenced by the UK company Oxitec, which is developing genetically modified mosquitoes and agricultural pests, with funding from the Swiss multinational agricultural company Syngenta. Oxitec has a patent which lists more than 50 species of insect it wishes to genetically modify and release into the environment. Syngenta wants to market GM insects for use by farmers in Europe and worldwide: one of the main proposed applications is to combine them with GM pest-resistant crops (Bt crops) to try to slow the spread of resistance to these crops. In the longer term potential commercial applications include pesticide-resistant bees.

    GM birds. GM chickens are being developed which are supposed to slow the spread of bird flu in factory farms. These birds raise many concerns, including the possibility that they will make the risk of bird flu worse.

    GM mammals. The consultation also covers GM mammals, including farm animals such as cows, pets such as cats, and wild animals such as rabbits, all of which could cause harm if they are released or escape into the environment. Products from some of these animals, such as milk from GM cows, may end up in the food chain. Genetically modifying mammals often causes suffering because many attempts fail resulting in aborted fetuses or stillbirths.

You can read more about some of these applications elsewhere on this website: 
GM fish 
http://www.genewatch.org/sub-566959
GM insects 
http://www.genewatch.org/sub-566989
and GM and cloned animals. 
http://www.genewatch.org/sub-396422

GeneWatch will add a copy of its response to the EFSA consultation, when it is completed.

What you can do

There are five things you can do if you are concerned about the proposals in the EFSA consultation:

    Contact your MP
    Contact your MEPs
    Respond to the consultation (by end August 2012)
    Contact your local supermarkets
    Let other people know.

Contacting your MP and MEPs

You can contact your MP and members of the European Parliament (MEPs) if you are concerned about the EFSA consultation and proposals to introduce GM fish, insects, birds, farm animals, and pets into the air, land, and sea in Britain.

Things you could point out to them include:

*The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) does not have the remit or competence to assess environmental harms should any of these GM animals be released or escape into the British countryside or seas.

*The consultation ignores the problems there will be keeping a GM-free food supply if these proposals go ahead. There are no plans in the consultation to trace where GM fish or cattle eggs or sperm will end up, or to prevent GM caterpillar eggs from entering the food supply on cabbages or other crops.

The most effective thing to do is to ring your MP's constituency office and ask to make an appointment to see him or her, but you can also write a letter or send an email. Contacting your MEPs is important, too, because the European Parliament should have a say about EFSA's work.

You can find your MP on the They Work for You website 
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/
or on the UK Parliament website. 
http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/
You can also email your MP and your MEPs directly from the Write to Them website.
http://www.writetothem.com/

Responding to the consultation

The deadline for responses to the EFSA consultation is 31st August 2012.

The EFSA consultation is very poorly written. For example, what is covered and some definitions are different in each section (for fish, insects and mammals and birds) and the structure of the report assumes it is possible to seperate the effects of a GM animal on one species from another, as if multiple species did not interact in the environment. Many scientific references are missing.

If you want to comment on the consultation you can only do this online on the EFSA website and you must make short comments line by line.
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/120621.htm

However, you do not have to submit comments on the whole document. If you want to make only one comment you could comment on the Background lines 165 to 168, by pointing out that EFSA is not competent to assess environmental risks as it has no remit or expertise in this area.

Contacting your local supermarkets or other food shops

You can write to, email, or phone your local supermarkets, or call in and ask to see the manager. 

Things you can ask them are:

    What is their policy on selling GM foods?
    What is their policy on selling meat, milk or dairy products from animals fed on GM feed?
    What is their policy on selling meat, milk or dairy products from GM animals, such as chicken and cows, if these products enter Britain in the future?
    What is their policy on selling vegetables, fruit or other crops which may contain GM insect eggs or caterpillers, should GM insects be used in British agriculture in the future?

Your local food shops might also appreciate being told about what is going on.

Letting other people know

You can let other people know about this website and also write letters to your local press or national newspapers.

If you would like more information please contact us.
http://www.genewatch.org/sub-396417

We would be interested to know about any replies you get from your MP, MEPs or supermarkets, or coverage in your local press.

Resources

    Official documents          
EFSA: Public consultation on the draft Guidance Document on the Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Animals
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/120621.htm
Deadline for responses: 31st August 2012.

    Consultation responses
    Press articles
Daily Mail: 'Frankenstein' meat could get go-ahead in EU: Safety fears over the use of GM animals (14th July 2012)
http://bit.ly/PTYR9F