Four fields of GM crops destroyed

WILLIAM TINNING, Glasgow Herald, UK, 19 August 2002

FOUR fields of genetically-modified crops had to be destroyed when 
they unexpectedly resprouted after harvesting, the government admitted yesterday.

The latest revelation came days after was it confirmed that 14 fields of 
GM crops, including two in Scotland, were contaminated with rogue seeds.

It brought further calls from campaigners for an end to GM crop trials and 
demands for a review of the government's involvement with the GM company 
conducting the trials.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 
yesterday confirmed that four fields of GM crops, in Gloucestershire, 
Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and north Yorkshire, were destroyed last November, 
after the stubble of harvested GM oilseed rape resprouted late last autumn, 
putting out new flowers.

The spokesman for Defra said there had been no threat to human health or 
the environment. "Safety experts have asked the company to have closer 
monitoring in the autumn at GM crop trial sites as a result," he said. 
The spokesman rejected a suggestion that attempts had been made to 
"cover up" the latest problem. He said details of the destruction was 
available in the annual report of the GM Inspectorate, the government's 
regulator, which is part of the Central Science Laboratory. 

The GM Inspectorate and Aventis, the GM company conducting the trials, 
failed to spot the reflowering of the rape, which spread modified pollen 
in the four English counties.

It came to light only when a farmer near one of the sites notified 
Friends of the Earth.

Kevin Dunion, chief executive of Friends of the Earth (Scotland), said 
yesterday: "This latest development raises serious questions about the 
role of the GM Inspectorate and who they are there to protect. Is it 
the bio-tech companies or the public?"

Last week, Ross Finnie, minister for environment and rural development, 
ordered an immediate inquiry into the presence of unapproved GM seed 
varieties at two Aberdeenshire sites growing oilseed rape as part of 
official crop trials. Twelve fields in England were also affected.

- Aug 19th