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European Commission to allow GM contamination of organic food (Thursday, July 24, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- From a news release.
Brussels, 23 July. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the European Environmental Bureau today condemned the European
Commission' s recommendation on co-existence between genetically
modified (GM) and non-GM crops.
The Commission says that GM contamination of organic crops should
be allowed. It says that new GM labelling rules - which will
require products to carry a label if they contain an ingredient
containing 0.9 per cent or more GM material to be labelled -
should apply to " conventional and organic farming alike " [1].
The environmental NGOs are urging member states to refuse to allow
this to happen.
GM-free areas
But the Commission gave a boost to Friends of the Earth's GM-free
Britain campaign by recommending that "measures of a regional
dimension could be considered " to prevent GM contamination. This
opens the door to regional bans on GM crops.
In October last year Friends of the Earth launched its GM-free
Britain (www.gmfreebritain.com[1]) campaign, to persuade local
authorities to take action on GM food and crops. Earlier today
(Wednesday) Somerset County Council voted to go GM-free, and
Cumbria County Council will vote in the issue tomorrow. The Welsh
National Assembly, Devon, Dorset, Lancashire, Cornwall,
Warwickshire, Shropshire, South Gloucestershire and the Lake
District National Park have already backed GM-free policies.
European Commission's Recommendation
The European Commission's recommendation (which has yet to be
published) will be discussed by the Commission later today. It
will not be legally binding. EU member states therefore have the
right to take more far reaching measures to protect organic and
conventional crops from GM contamination. Amendments, adopted by
the European Environment Ministers yesterday, say that "member
states may take measures to avoid the unintended presence of
GM 's in other products ". The amendments also say that
responsibility for avoiding genetic pollution should lie with the
GM producers.
Friends of the Earth Europe GM campaigner Clare Oxborrow said:
"Moves to allow organic crops to be contaminated with GM pollution
are totally unacceptable, and could lead to the death of organic
food and farming. Member States should reject this
recommendation and bring in tough legislation to prevent
genetic contamination and ensures real consumer choice."
"Local authorities across the UK have taken steps to protect their
food, farming and environment by introducing GM-free policies. The
Commission's call for regional measures to stop GM pollution is
a welcome boost, and should encourage even more councils to take
action."
There is widespread scientific agreement that commercially grown
GM crops will contaminate conventional and organic farms over an
extensive area. Therefore the green NGO's are urging Member
States to take appropriate measures, such as creating GMO free
zones and the adoption of legislation that establishes zero
tolerance towards the GM contamination of seeds.
Eric Gall from Greenpeace said.
"Member states should make clear in their national
legislation that GM producers are the ones responsible for
avoiding GMO's in food, feed and especially seeds. According
to the polluter pays principle GM producers should also bear the cost
of anti-contamination measures."
Mauro Albrizio from the European Environmental Bureau added:
"The right to eat GM-free food will be severely compromised if GM
crops are grown on a large scale. The Commission must accept
that no one wants GM foods and that public authorities have every
right to protect their consumers and environment."
THE COMMISSION'S UNPUBLISHED RECOMMENDATIONS ARE AVAILABLE FROM
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH
[1] Draft Commission recommendation on guidelines for the
development of national strategies and best practices to ensure
the co-existence of genetically modified crops with conventional
and organic farming.
[2] A number of local authorities (and the Welsh National
Assembly) have already endorsed GM-free policies. These include
taking action to stop tenant farmers growing GM crops, and banning
GM food from local food services such as school meals and
residential homes. They can also write to the Government and
Brussels applying, under new European laws, to be excluded from
growing certain GM crops.
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/eu_commission_calls_gm_con.html
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