GM crops expected to be grown in England
The new European Directive allowing EU member states to opt out of GMO cultivation is here.
Some of the legal difficulties that opting-out countries could face are outlined here.
The approach that may have a chance of holding up legally for opting-out countries is outlined in the presentations from Austria (marked “AT” in the right-hand menu) here.
Would-be opting-out countries are advised to study these presentations.
1. Scotland to ban genetically modified produce while EU-approved controversial crops are to be grown in England
2. Scotland to ban GM crop growing
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1. Scotland to ban genetically modified produce while EU-approved controversial crops are to be grown in England
Hannah Parry
Daily Mail, 9 Aug 2015
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3190813/Scotland-ban-genetically-modified-produce-EU-approved-controversial-crops-grown-England.html
* Rules will allow England to grow crops banned in other European states
* But Scotland has decided to opt-out of producing EU approved crops
* Opponents say the products damage the environment, kill animal species
Scotland is to ban the growing of controversial genetically modified crops under new EU opt-out rules.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said he wasn't prepared to 'gamble' with the country's food and drink sector to grow EU-authorised GM crops.
But farmers have hit back at the move claiming Scotland's agricultural industry would suffer as a result.
The new rules, which were brought in earlier this year, allow each country to decide whether or not to grow a GM crop – once ruled safe by the European Food Safety Authority.
The deal has been engineered by the British government, which wants GM crops to be grown here, following a series of secret briefings with GM companies and their trade body.
But political leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all stated their opposition to growing GM crops.
Earlier this year, Farming Minister George Eustice called for a 'grown-up conversation' about GM.
'We should have a science-based approach to these things,' he told the National Farmers' Union conference in Birmingham. 'We should be growing these crops, and we shouldn't allow non-scientific arguments to muddy the debate.'
GM crops are used widely in the US and Asia, but nine countries have opposed their cultivation in the EU.
Mr Lochhead is to request that Scotland be excluded from any European consents for the cultivation of GM crops in a bid to protect the country's 'clean, green status'.
But Scott Walker, chief executive of NFU Scotland, said he was disappointed with the ban.
'These crops could have a role in shaping sustainable agriculture at some point and at the same time protecting the environment which we all cherish in Scotland,' he told the BBC.
Opt-outs from GM crop consent would cover an EU approved variety of genetically modified maize plus six others awaiting authorisation.
Mr Lochhead told the BBC: 'There is no evidence of significant demand for GM products by Scottish consumers and I am concerned that allowing GM crops to be grown in Scotland would damage our clean and green brand, thereby gambling with the future of our £14bn food and drink sector.
'Scottish food and drink is valued at home and abroad for its natural, high quality which often attracts a premium price, and I have heard directly from food and drink producers in other countries that are ditching GM because of a consumer backlash.'
The Conservatives, Labour and Lib-Dems in Westminster support GM crops, however, the administrations in Scotland, Wales and many English councils remain opposed.
But the new rules mean that even if a GM crop is banned in Germany, France, Italy and other European states, the Westminster government can allow it to be grown here from as early as next year.
The Scottish ban was welcomed by Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone, who called on ministers to go even further by telling big retailers to improve their labelling on animal products from livestock feed on GM food.
There is also concern among consumers amid suspicion the crops pose risks to human health and the environment.
At the same time, organic farmers and green campaigners point to the damage caused by the growing of GM crops on an industrial scale in North America.
There, superweeds have developed that are difficult to control, leading to the need for ever more powerful chemical weedkillers, while important species like the Monarch butterfly are under threat.
Critics fear that pollen from GM plants will spread to other conventional and organic crops, as well as honey, so polluting the entire food chain.
The first GM crops to be grown here could be varieties of corn or maize created by the labs of Syngenta and Monsanto, which are modified to give them protection from the weedkiller glyphosate, also known as RoundUp Ready.
The idea is that these crops can be blanket sprayed with the chemical which will kills off any weeds but allows the corn to grow.
It has already emerged that certain fast food chains and upmarket supermarkets have already been selling products that contain GM ingredients.'
In March, it was revealed that Domino’s ‘thin and crispy’ pizza bases have been made using genetically modified soya bean oil and maize flour since February.
Waitrose has also been selling imported American confectionery which contains GM sugar beet and a soya derivative and Marks & Spencer has been stocking American sauces and cookies containing GM soya and corn – even though the firm has previously boasted about not using GM ingredients.
Domino's confirmed that it has been using thin and crispy pizza bases with GM ingredients since the beginning of February after its usual supplier in Ireland had a factory fire which stopped production.
The firm apologised for not updating its website, and confirmed that it hopes to return to using non-GM bases in September.
M&S said its decision to stock GM products ‘in no way affects our commitment to only using non-GM ingredients in M&S food’.
And a Waitrose spokesman insisted that any GM ingredients in American chocolate stocked by the store were ‘clearly labelled’.
GM crops like sugar beet, corn or maize and soya have been at the centre of concerns that the associated industrial farming practices have caused serious harm to the environment.
The plants have been altered through the insertion of foreign genes that create toxins to kill insects or give them immunity to spraying with powerful chemical weed killers.
There is evidence from the USA that certain weeds have developed immunity to the same weed killers with the result that they are taking over many fields.
At the same time, the use of sprays alongside the GM crops is thought to have caused a collapse in the population of the Monarch butterfly, which is now under threat.
Critics of the technology are also concerned about the lack of independent research to show the resulting food is safe to eat.
A recent Food Standards Agency (FSA) study found a rise in concerns about GM food. Some 24per cent listed GM as a concern, which was higher than food hygiene in the home.
Advocates claim that in the future GM technology could be used to produce more food in areas of drought, or develop plants that are high in beneficial nutrients.
The new legal regime is at odds with the principles of the EU and single market, which has previously insisted that all member states should apply the same rules on food and farming.
The arrangements have been hailed as a success for the pro-GM campaigner and former Tory Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, who was sacked last year. He, along with ministers from Spain, led the drive in Brussels to speed the commercial growing of GM crops.
The policy sprang out of a series of secret briefings between ministers, their civil servants and the GM industry's Agricultural Biotechnology Council, which began in the summer of 2012.
Ministers subsequently promised incentives for investment, a strategy for biotech and, most significantly, efforts to reduce regulation and speed up GM crop approvals, which will come to fruition today.
The details of these meetings were revealed following a series of Freedom of Information Act requests by the campaigning group GeneWatch.
Its director, Dr Helen Wallace, said: 'This EU deal arose from secret meetings between the UK Government and the GM industry, which wants to plant its RoundUp Ready GM crops in England, despite opposition from the public.
'Massive environmental problems with these crops in the USA include the devastating loss of 90per cent of Monarch butterflies and the spread of resistant superweeds, due to blanket spraying of the crops with weedkiller.
'Growing GM in England would risk contamination of non-GM crops, pushing up food prices and risking loss of export markets. The Scottish and Welsh governments will say no to GM crops, but in England people will have to fight for local regions to opt out.'
Liz O'Neill, the director of GM Freeze, said: 'Contamination incidents all over the world show that seed and pollen will spread wherever the wind, wildlife and human error take them, right along the supply chain.
'This directive offers no meaningful protection to people who want to make informed choices about what they are eating or to farmers who want to protect their fields from the superweeds and biodiversity loss associated with the kind of GM crops likely to be heading our way.'
Last week, the government's new Environment Secretary Liz Truss confirmed her support for GM. She told a farming conference in Oxford: 'I think GM crops have a role to play here in Britain.'
However, her counterpart in Scotland, Richard Lochhead, a member of the SNP, said: 'The jury is still out on the environmental and scientific case for GM. We don't want to see GM ruin Scotland's reputation as a clean, green country.'
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2. Scotland to ban GM crop growing
BBC News, 9 August 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33833958
Scotland is to ban the growing of genetically modified crops, the country's rural affairs secretary has announced.
Richard Lochhead said the Scottish government was not prepared to "gamble" with the future of the country's £14bn food and drink sector.
He is to request that Scotland be excluded from any European consents for the cultivation of GM crops.
But farming leaders said they were disappointed by the move.
Under EU rules, GM crops must be formally authorised before they can be cultivated.
An amendment came into force earlier this year which allows member states and devolved administrations to restrict or ban the cultivation of genetically modified organisms within their territory.
'Consumer backlash'
Mr Lochhead said Scotland's request for opt-outs from GM crop consent would cover an EU approved variety of genetically modified maize and six other GM crops that are awaiting authorisation.
He said that Scotland was known around the world for its "beautiful natural environment" and banning the growing of genetically modified crops would protect and further enhance its "clean, green status".
Mr Lochhead added: "There is no evidence of significant demand for GM products by Scottish consumers and I am concerned that allowing GM crops to be grown in Scotland would damage our clean and green brand, thereby gambling with the future of our £14bn food and drink sector.
"Scottish food and drink is valued at home and abroad for its natural, high quality which often attracts a premium price, and I have heard directly from food and drink producers in other countries that are ditching GM because of a consumer backlash."
The announcement was welcomed by Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone, who agreed that the cultivation of GM crops would harm the country's environment and reputation for high quality food and drink.
But she called on ministers to go further by challenging big retailers to improve their labelling to show whether meat, eggs and dairy products come from animals fed on GM feed.
'Embracing biotechnology'
Scott Walker, chief executive of NFU Scotland, said he was disappointed that the Scottish government had decided that no GM crops should ever be grown in Scotland.
"Other countries are embracing biotechnology where appropriate and we should be open to doing the same here in Scotland," he said.
"These crops could have a role in shaping sustainable agriculture at some point and at the same time protecting the environment which we all cherish in Scotland."
Huw Jones, professor of molecular genetics at agricultural science group Rothamsted Research, said the announcement was a "sad day for science and a sad day for Scotland.
He said that GM crops approved by the EU were "safe for humans, animals and the environment".