Keep Dorset GM Free! - Brooke

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 20th Oct 2006

Annette Brooke MP with Jane O'Meara from GM Free Dorset, outside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Annette Brooke, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, joined campaigners in London yesterday to demand that the Government keeps Dorset GM Free.

In response to Government plans to allow GM contamination of food, a hamper of UK-wide speciality and seasonal foods was presented for David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment.

Annette attended the rally outside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with campaigners from Dorset, as well as farmers and food producers from all over the country. The event marked the end of the Government public consultation on how GM crops can be grown alongside conventional and organic crops in England [1].

Annette said:

"Government plans to allow 0.9% GM contamination of our food is simply not acceptable. Such a substantial figure may ultimately lead to contamination of every part of the food chain.

"People across Dorset and the rest of the country are now fighting for their right to choose GM free. I wholeheartedly support them in this, and have continued to sign parliamentary motions against the expansion of GM produce."

Jane O'Meara, spokesperson for GM Free Dorset, presented a loaf of bread baked by the Long Critchel Organic Bakery in North Dorset. She said:

"The Government's proposals were quite simply about corporate control of our environment and food chain. The sheer volume of people in Dorset that have responded to this short, under-publicised consultation should tell you that this is unacceptable in our county."

She continued:

"The proposals do not give our public farmers and food producers the respect they deserve. Please read these responses and take note".

GM crops are not currently being grown in the UK, but the Government is putting in place GM 'coexistence' rules which will set up a framework to allow them to be grown in the next few years. But the current proposals are seriously flawed, and if implemented, will allow widespread GM contamination of food and farming [2].

Friends of the Earth spokesman Keith Hatch from Bridport said:

"We have come to London to show the Government how strongly we feel about the threat of irreversible GM contamination. Organic and other quality food production is a thriving industry in the Southwest, and the Government must do all it can to support it.

"Legalising routine, unlabelled, GM contamination in organic and conventional crops is unacceptable and Government plans to allow this must be scrapped. Instead, they must listen to the public and local authorities in the South West calling on them to protect our right to choose GM free."

Thousands of people around the country have responded to the consultation, calling for tough rules to prevent irreversible GM contamination of conventional and organic crops and strict liability on biotech companies for any economic or environmental damage caused by their crops. Local authorities in the South West have also committed to responding. Authorities in Dorset include Dorset County Council, North Dorset District Council and Bridport Town Council.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

[1] The coexistence consultation for England ran from 20 July to 20 October 2006 http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/gmnongm-coexist/index.htm

[2] The concerns are that Defra proposals:

• Assume a certain level of GM contamination of conventional crops is acceptable

• Offer no guarantee of protection for organic producers

• Fail to propose strict liability legislation for biotechnology companies for any damage their products cause

• Ignore the impacts of GM crops on the environment

• Suggest that a public register of sites where GM crops are grown will not be put in place

• Favour voluntary measures contained in an industry code of practice for the majority of 'coexistence' measures

• Set separation distances for oilseed rape and maize that will result in routine GM contamination of conventional crops

• Do not include allotment holders and gardeners - ie they will not be notified when a farmer intends to grow a GM crop nearby

• Ignores beekeepers, putting honey at risk of GM contamination

• Offer no support for statutory GM free zones

For further details see http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/action_guides/gm_consultation_guide.pdf

And http://www.stopgmcontamination.org