1.Wrongly sown GM seeds 'posed risk' – Press Association
2.Unauthorised GM release – Scottish Government
3.'Unauthorised' release of GM seed – BBC
EXTRACT: Duncan McLaren added that in his view this was another example of the "lackadaisical attitude" of the GM industry.
Environment Minister Michael Russell said: "Had these plants been allowed to mature, the risk to the environment could have been very serious."
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1.Wrongly sown GM seeds 'posed risk'
Press Association, 12 September 2008
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i7aI2QGZgJOSFdB2rxrP2tEptS0Q
Genetically modified seeds were wrongly sown at three locations in Scotland, posing a "very serious risk" to the environment, the Scottish Government said.
The new variety of oilseed rape contained "small amounts" of unauthorised GM material, it was disclosed.
Sowing of seeds from that batch has been halted and plants on the three trial sites will be destroyed.
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2.Unauthorised GM release
The Scottish Government, 12 September 2008
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/09/12101348
Corrective measures have been taken after trial sowings of a new variety of oilseed rape in Scotland were found to contain small amounts of unauthorised GM material.
The situation is contained and there are no current risks to human or animal health or to the environment.
Further sowings of this batch of seed have been stopped. Plants on the three trial plots will be destroyed.
Minister for Environment Michael Russell said:
"Had these plants been allowed to mature, the risk to the environment could have been very serious.
"However, prompt action by the Scottish Government is ensuring that the situation is remedied.
"This further emphasises the continuing need for rigourous controls on GM material and for Scotland to remain a GM crop-free zone.
"The Scottish Government are working with stakeholders to understand how this occurred and to ensure that it never happens again."
No GM crop may be grown in Europe unless it has explicit approval for cultivation granted under the GM Food and Feed Regulation (1829/2003) or the Deliberate Release of GMOs into the Environment Directive 2001/18/EC. Any authorised GM which is marketed also needs to conform to traceability and labelling requirements.
In this case, a seed sample of a new conventional oilseed rape variety submitted into the UK's National List trialling programme has been found to contain small amounts of a genetically modified herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape.
This seed sample was due to have been sown at national list trial sites in England and Scotland. This will now not happen and the seed has been sent to the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) Seed Handling Unit for destruction.
However, the same batch of seed has also been used for three additional trials which have been recently sown. Two of these sites are in Aberdeenshire and one near Arbroath. Although these sowings represents a technical breach of the GM regulations, they do not represent any current risk to human or animal heath or to the environment. A risk to the environment would only be present if the plants were allowed to mature and produce pollen and set seed which could spread or persist in the environment.
Inspectors from the Scottish Government's GM Inspectorate will ensure that the plants are destroyed.
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3.'Unauthorised' release of GM seed
BBC News, 12 September 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7612262.stm
[image caption: The seed had been used at three sites in Scotland.]
Trial sowings of a new variety of oilseed rape in Scotland have been found to contain small amounts of unauthorised GM material.
The Scottish Government said there were no current risks to human or animal health or to the environment.
Plants on the three trial plots - two in Aberdeenshire and one near Arbroath in Angus - will be destroyed.
Friends of the Earth said it supported the government's "action to handle
the situation".
The organisation's director, Duncan McLaren, added that in his view this was another example of the "lackadaisical attitude" of the GM industry.
Environment Minister Michael Russell said: "Had these plants been allowed to mature, the risk to the environment could have been very serious.
However, prompt action by the Scottish Government is ensuring that the
situation is remedied.
"This further emphasises the continuing need for rigorous controls on GM material and for Scotland to remain a GM crop-free zone."
He added that steps were being undertaken to understand how this had happened and to ensure that it does not happen again.
Specific authorisation
No GM crops can be grown in Europe without specific authorisation.
In this case, a seed sample of a conventional oilseed rape variety was found to contain small amounts of GM material.
It had been due to have been sown at national trial sites in Scotland and England. This will now not happen and the seed has been sent for destruction.
It had already been used at three trial sites in Scotland.
The Scottish Government said these would only have represented a risk to
the environment had the plants been allowed to mature and set seed.