EUROPEAN GMO SEED LAW CONDEMNED
“Recipe for disaster” says FOE

A small group of technical experts will on Monday (22nd September) discuss controversial plans to allow seeds to be contaminated by genetically modified (GM) varieties. The plan has been condemned by Friends of the Earth who say the proposals will not only put the environment at risk but will also eventually lead to so much contamination that consumers will be forced to eat GM foods.

The proposals by the European Commission will be discussed by the little-known Standing Committee on Seeds, made up of civil servants from each member state. On agreement they will make an indicative vote and later a formal vote before the rules become law. At no stage is the European Parliament involved.[1]
The new draft legislation allows for a small but significant GM contamination of conventional seeds before the seeds need to be labelled as containing GMOs. However for some crops such as oilseed rape the proposed levels of contamination would still allow up to 10,000 GM seeds per hectare to be inadvertently sown without the farmer knowing.

The plans which have already been severely condemned by official wildlife experts who believe that the contamination "could result in adverse impacts on farmland biodiversity". They have also reported that it could lead to the creation of GM super-weeds which "may lead to farmers using more herbicides...potentially resulting in increased damage to biodiversity." Furthermore, GM crops could cross with wild plant species which "could lead to disruption of native ecosystems or the gradual development of weediness in native species."[2]

Friends of the Earth has written to national Agricultural ministries calling for them to intervene, pointing out that the proposals will have a serious knock-on effect on consumer choice. When the proposals were first aired in 2001 the EU’s own Scientific Committee on Plants warned that keeping to the contamination levels “will become increasingly difficult as GM crop production increases in Europe “. As a consequence they warned that the labelling threshold for GM foods “may have to be revised. “This is currently set at 0.9%.[3]

Geert Ritsema, GMO Campaign Coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe said:
"Allowing GM-contaminated seed to be sold across Europe is a recipe for disaster. It will pollute our food and countryside and remove consumer choice. If anything goes wrong with this new technology the potentially catastrophic consequences will be irreversible. Scientists are saying that this may be threat to our environment and also to our freedom to choose. Ministers must step in urgently to stop these plans becoming law."