"THE HOPE OF THE INDUSTRY IS THAT OVER TIME THE MARKET IS SO FLOODED [WITH GM] THAT THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT, YOU JUST SORT OF SURRENDER." - Don Westfall, vice-president, Promar International
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The Welsh Assembly is powerless to stop GM crop trials
Tuesday, 1 May, 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/wales/newsid_1306000/1306234.stm
Welsh Assembly members are to be told on Tuesday why Wales cannot be kept GM free.

Agriculture Minister Carwyn Jones  will, however, tell the assembly of his long-term plans to enforce a greater distance between GM crops, and organic producers.

With planting of genetically-modified maize expected to start at three trial sites - two in Mathry in Pembrokeshire and one at Sealand in Flintshire - within days, it will mark the end of a long battle to try to maintain the GM-free status.

The assembly has fought for six months to try to "go it alone" and prevent the crops from being grown at all in Wales.

Scientific studies have failed to give the minister the powers to ban the GM crops, nor can he  prevent individual farmers from growing them.

But in the longer term, Mr Jones is likely to look towards Europe, to change the rules on separation distances.

At the moment, there is a voluntary distance of 200 metres between GM crops and neighbouring organic producers.

The Soil Association says that gap should be six miles while other groups argue that,whatever the distance, it should be a legal requirement.

Any such changes would create an EU-wide conflict between the GM crop and organic regimes, which could take a year or more to resolve.

At the weekend police were called after protesters held a demonstration near a farm at Mathry in Pembrokeshire, west Wales, where GM crop trials are expected to start.

A group of around 100 protesters - led by local organic farmers - marched past the fields chosen for the trials, and then to the home of the landowners.

But the farmers are now resigned to the fact that preparatory work for the sowing has already started.

One of the two fields earmarked for the experiment has already been ploughed and if the weather remains dry the maize seeds could be sown by Saturday.

Organic farmer Gerald Miles, who met landowners Tony Marlow and Gill Chambers on Monday night, said they were at "complete loggerheads".  However, he said that he and his fellow organic farmers would continue to argue the dangers of growing GM crops so close to farms who have adopted organic methods.

The farmers intend to go to London on Thursday to meet UK Environment Minister, Michael Meacher.