Posted on 4-8-2003

US Market Imperialism Will Conquer GM Opposition?

It would seem that the views of America are more important than those of
the British or NZ public when it comes to taking important decisions about
the future.

By Marie Woolf, The Independent, 2 August 2003

GM crops can be more damaging to neighbouring flora and fauna than ordinary
strains of sugar beet, maize and oilseed rape, the Government's farm trials
have shown.

The experiments have disproved the theory that GM plants would interact
with other species in the same way as their conventional counterparts. In
particular, the impact on insects, weeds and hedgerow plants has proved
radically different, the trial results have revealed. GM enthusiasts have
argued that the crops will not affect the countryside. But sources close to
the trials say that the findings, now being assessed by experts, prove that
the "null hypothesis" about GM crops is wrong.

The three crops in the trials, GM maize, oilseed rape and sugar beet, have
all behaved differently to the conventional varieties grown beside them.
Some have destroyed more insects and weeds than conventional varieties,
although one crop, believed to be maize, is thought to have had a more
positive effect on killing unwanted common "weeds". One senior source close
to the trials said: "The null hypothesis is wrong, that's what's come out
of the trials clearly. What is consistent is there are differences in the
impact of GM crops and conventional crops." Three varieties of GM crops
have been tested in hundreds of farm-scale trials.

The Government is to base its decision on whether to grow GM crops
commercially in Britain on the results of these trials. Whitehall experts
believe ministers will give the green light to grow one variety of GM crop
in Britain, possibly maize, to send a signal to the Americans that they are
not anti-GM. But two other varieties are expected to be rejected because
they may damage the environment. The secret results, which will be sent to
a government advisory committee on environmental contamination, are being
checked by scientists.

Biotechnology firms have been given a "licence to pollute" because of a
loophole in the law that allows them to escape prosecution, critics say.The
law on growing GM crops will allow such companies to escape fines or even
prison if they do not "deliberately" release GM material into the
environment. The get-out clause has incensed environmentalists, who say it
proves controls are not tough enough to stop GM crops spreading into the
wild across Britain. The 1990 Environmental Protection Act means farmers
who allow GM seed to be mixed with conventional crops, creating GM hybrids,
would escape prosecution if they could prove the transfer was
unintentional. They are unlikely to be prosecuted if they "exercised all
precautions" to prevent GM genes escaping.