GM Freeze lodges complaint over DEFRA seed consultation

GM Freeze has today complained to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs about its consultation on the marketing of newer forms of genetically engineered seeds – those dubbed "precision bred" by the Westminster government. The new seed framework will follow closely on the heels of the deregulation of new genetically engineered plants, food and feed.

GM Freeze says that the public consultation has not been designed for the public, but rather, to assess a narrow range of business impacts that might be faced by seed developers and suppliers. The campaign group points to the fact that all of the questions except one refer to business impacts. It says that this is dissuading the public from engaging with the consultation, which closes on 14 April.

“Millions of UK citizens grow food – in their gardens, allotments and even in public spaces,” said GM Freeze Director Leonie Nimmo. “These people are doing their bit to reduce the carbon impacts of our country’s food consumption and build resilience into our food system. They clearly care about what they put in their mouths and in the soil, yet DEFRA is treating them as a complete irrelevance. It’s insulting.”

GM Freeze also says that the consultation fails to adequately address the potential business impacts on the organic sector, which is legally required to exclude all genetically engineered inputs. Some farmers may face financial ruin if the regulations mean that they are unable to exclude new GMOs. Yet while the consultation asks about the administrative costs of lists and labels, it does not seek information on the potential losses for non-GMO producers.

According to Nimmo, failure to label new GMO seeds will create a market failure that will benefit the biotech industry at the expense of growers, their customers and communities. “We already know our food system is vulnerable,” she said. “The last thing we need is money flowing to the biotech industry when it should be spent on genuinely sustainable solutions that are in the hands of the people, such as boosting local food production and supporting agroecology.”

The consultation has been met with confusion and anger by members of the public that have tried to complete it. “We are lodging this complaint on behalf of all of those that have contacted us in frustration over the way that DEFRA is conducting this supposed public consultation,” said Nimmo.

The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee recently heavily criticised DEFRA over its failure to present survey findings regarding the public’s views of new GMOs, despite the fact that it used the survey findings to “justify potentially contentious policy decisions”.

According to Nimmo, “If this so-called consultation results in DEFRA justifying a decision to not label new GMO seeds, we can only conclude that that was the intention all along.”

GMWatch has responded to the consultation, but fully shares GM Freeze's view that the consultation is designed to exclude the public and indeed everyone apart from a narrow range of businesses. We encourage all concerned members of the public to respond to the consultation, but to take every opportunity within the questionnaire to emphasise the bias and exclusionary nature of the exercise. Beyond GM has some guidance on how to respond.