1.Wales leads Europe in protecting crops from GM threat
2.GMO-FREE EUROPEAN REGIONS NETWORK SET UP IN FLORENCE
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1.Wales leads Europe in protecting crops from GM threat
By Jane Kettle
4 Feb 2005
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=9496&channel=0

Wales joined together with other like-minded European regions in Florence this week to discuss measures for protecting conventional and organic agriculture from the risks of genetic modification.

Wales has joined with other European leaders to protect conventional crops from GM contamination

At a meeting of the European Regions Network (ERM), which was part founded by Wales, suggestions for strict coexistence measures were put forward to protect European farming from any threat of contamination from the growing commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops.

Although there is no likelihood of GM crops being grown in Wales for the time being, Welsh Minister for the Environment, Planning and Countryside, Carwyn Jones, said he was keen to take a proactive approach to ensure that crops could not be adversely affected if such a situation arose.

"Wales is again demonstrating its commitment to protecting our agriculture industry from the impacts of potential commercialisation of GM crops within the UK," he stated.

"The Welsh Assembly Government will be represented at the meeting because it is keen to work with other regions throughout Europe to develop the strictest possible regulations to clearly differentiate between GM, traditional and organic farming."

He added that Wales intended to join European counterparts in signing a Charter of the Regions, as long as it was compatible with the Welsh Assembly's objectives and legal framework.

The Florence conference is the third meeting of the ERM, established in 2003 to take forward the Commission's recommendation for the development of national strategies and best practice to ensure
the health coexistence of GM products with traditionally or organically farmed crops.

see also: Countryside Minister signs European GM charter
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/1000farming/tm_objectid=15164792&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=-countryside-minister-signs-european-gm-charter-name_page.html
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2."GMO-FREE": EUROPEAN REGIONS NETWORK SET UP IN FLORENCE
AGI, Italy
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200502042003-1304-RT1-CRO-0-NF51&page=0&id=agionline-eng.arab

(AGI) - Florence, Feb. 4 - Allowing regional governments which have taken a clear stance against GMOs is the core goal of "OGM-free", a European regional governments network set up today in Florence by the regional government of Tuscany. Today's meeting marked the signing of a common document named "Europe's Regional Governments and Local Authorities Charter", which officially promotes and enhances existing cooperation in the field of traditional agriculture. It also aims at safeguarding genuine and high-quality products, increasing the autonomy of farmers.

The initiative has already been undersigned by 19 regional governments. Namely, those of Emilia Romagna, Marche, Lazio, Sardinia, Autonomous Province of Alto Adige, the Salzburg region, Upper Austria, Burgenland, Styria (Austria), l'Highlands & Islands (Scotland) and Wales, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), l'Ile de France, Brittany, Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes (France), the Basque Countries, Drama-Xavala-Xanthi (Greece).

The document sums up in ten bullets the future commitments for each member region. These include devising specific projects to support traditional agriculture and organic farming, anti-GMO measures,
safeguarding certified quality products and biodiversity. The members are discussing possible sanctions to apply against environment damages, as
well as levying a tax on farmers in order to ensure that regional governments will have the necessary funds to cover all costs.

Member regions also pledge to favour 'safe research', i.e. research which is exclusively carried out at authorised sites, and to promote the use of GMO-free seeds. Finally, they also pledge to push for international agreements that guarantee stocks of GMO-free raw materials for the future.