Birmingham
Post
Tuesday, 7th March, 2000MPs Call For More Informed Debate On GM Foodstuffs
MPs will urge the Government today to replace the "confusion" over GM technology with "rational debate and education".Such a move would enable the market to serve farmers who actively choose to grow GM crops and those who want to eat them, as well as those who do not, according to the all-party agriculture committee in its inquiry into the controversial new technology.
The MPs said their primary concern was to ensure that consumers and farmers alike could make informed choices on whether to make use of it.
But they added: "This objective has not been well served to date by the confusion and hysterics which genetic modification has engendered in the United Kingdom.
"The first consumer product to reach the shops was a tomato paste, launched with a proper education campaign, rewarded with satisfactory sales but withdrawn in the wake of panic whipped by campaigns against 'Frankenstein foods'.
"The supermarket chains responded with radical action to root out genetically modified ingredients in order to reassure and thereby keep their customers."
The MPs complained that few organisations emerged from the situation with much credit.
"We believe it is vital that this confusion is now replaced by rational debate and education in order that the market can service those who actively choose to grow or consume genetically modified foods, as well as those who choose not to do so."
The report also urged Ministers to work within the EU to establish early definitions of "non-GM" and "GM-free" labels to apply throughout Europe.
The Government should ensure that the separation distances set out in guidelines on field trials should be reviewed if there was clear evidence of cross-pollination.
"We recommend that the Government maintain the programme of GM crop field trials as planned, and that all steps are taken to ensure that experiments are not scaled down below the size calculated to produce reliable and scientifically sound results and that they are protected from interference."
Monsanto in the UK | Biotech Primer | Knowledge Centre | Discussion
About Monsanto | Links | Comments & Questions | Home | News
Copyright Monsanto Company
