The Royal Society

In submissions to the Government-sponsored GM Science Review, the Royal Society calls for the Government to review its mechanisms through which GM crops are monitored in the environment and to produce plans for long-term assessments that must be taken into account by both UK and EU regulators.

Professor Patrick Bateson, Vice-President and Biological Secretary of the Royal Society, said: “We advised the Government almost five years ago that it needed to carry out a review of the way in which the environmental impact of GM crops is monitored in the long-term, but it still hasn’t taken the necessary action. We are glad to see that the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment is now getting to grips with this issue.”

He added: “If the decision is taken to allow commercial planting of GM crops, it is essential that regulators in both the UK and EU monitor the environmental impact to pick up any potentially beneficial or harmful effects over a long period. It will not be enough to make best estimates at the start and then assume that everything will turn out as expected.”

The submissions also recommend that the GM Science Review Panel should be given the opportunity to consider formally the results of the GM Farm Scale Evaluations, which are being considered for publication in the scientific journal ‘Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences’.

Professor Bateson said: “Although the Review Panel is due to deliver its report in June, it would make a great deal of sense for its members to also look at the results of the farm scale trials if, as is expected, they are published later in the year. These trials are the largest scale field study of how particular types of GM crop affect wildlife, and the Review Panel should make recommendations to Government in the light of this research.”

The submissions draw attention to potential benefits that GM crops could deliver worldwide if used appropriately. Professor Bateson said: “There are many crucial decisions to be made concerning the use of GM crops by private corporations, governments and individuals that will affect the future of humanity and the planet’s natural resources. It is vital that these decisions are based on the best scientific information.”

He added: “Over the next decade, biotechnology will aim to improve the nutritional qualities of crops and farming performance by focusing on characteristics such as yield and stress tolerance. GM technology may therefore help to meet the demand for food by an expanding world population, with less impact on the environment. It is clear, however, that continued development and evaluations of GM technology will be required to realise these potential benefits.”

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