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Decision on GM postponed until after election / Trial results (17/10/2003)

EXCERPTS: "Speaking to journalists last night, Mr Morley [the Environment Minister] did not believe that any biotechnology company wanted to start planting a GM crop in Britain. He appeared to suggest that the evidence could halt the planting of GM crops in the European Union. The European Commission and member states had been awaiting the results, he said, adding: 'I don't think any European country can ignore these results.'

"The mood in Government appears to have changed over the summer after the Cabinet Office analysis which suggested that there was no economic case for the technology at present and that the public were rejecting it.

"Mr Morley said: 'I think we are some way from commercial planting. There are a number of hurdles to cross. It will definitely not be next year. It depends on whether GM crops satisfy tests, but there has to be a market and the market is not here in the UK and the tests are not of great interest to UK farmers.' "

Ministers may also be reining back from GM crops because they know the issue would produce a big row with regional colleagues, particularly the Welsh Assembly, which wants to keep Wales GM-free.

The Government is also anxious not to allow opposition parties to exploit the issue.
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Decision on GM crops postponed until after election
By Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor
The Times, October 17, 2003
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-857324,00.html

MINISTERS are likely to delay any decision on the commercial planting of genetically modified crops until after the general election.

Elliot Morley, the Environment Minister, last night ruled out biotechnology companies being granted any GM licences in Britain next year and said that the country was "some way" from reaching any final decision on the issue.

He spoke out after government scientific tests showed that GM oilseed rape and beet harmed the environment. Mr Morley even accepted that, given the impact of these crops on wildlife, particularly on farmland birds, they may never be licensed for use here.

Ministers realise that were they to allow some commercial planting they would be reneging on their commitment to reverse the decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020. The results of the GM field trials suggest a huge threat to birds such as the skylark and corn bunting. With public opinion overwhelmingly against the technology, ministers have seen its political dangers.

Speaking to journalists last night, Mr Morley appeared keen to defer the issue and said he was not putting pressure on the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment to make recommendations to ministers soon. He did not believe that any biotechnology company wanted to start planting a GM crop in Britain.

He appeared to suggest that the evidence could halt the planting of GM crops in the European Union. The European Commission and member states had been awaiting the results, he said, adding: "I don't think any European country can ignore these results."

The mood in Government appears to have changed over the summer after the Cabinet Office analysis which suggested that there was no economic case for the technology at present and that the public were rejecting it.

Mr Morley said: "I think we are some way from commercial planting. There are a number of hurdles to cross. It will definitely not be next year. It depends on whether GM crops satisfy tests, but there has to be a market and the market is not here in the UK and the tests are not of great interest to UK farmers."

Ministers may also be reining back from GM crops because they know the issue would produce a big row with regional colleagues, particularly the Welsh Assembly, which wants to keep Wales GM-free.

The Government is also anxious not to allow opposition parties to exploit the issue. David Lidington, environment spokesman for the Conservatives, and Andrew George, for the Liberal Democrats, said the scientific evidence pointed to a need for more caution.

The latest findings nevertheless will lead to further debate, especially as GM maize was found to be better for wildlife than the conventional crop.

Mark Avery, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said that GM crops could be "the final nail in the coffin for some species". Stephen Tindale, of Greenpeace, said: "For years the GM corporations have been claiming that their crops would reduce weedkiller use and benefit wildlife. Now we know how wrong they were."

There are concerns that the Government may use the positive results for GM maize to push for limited commercial planting. Patrick Holden, of the Soil Association, which campaigns for organic food production, said: "The Government mustn't use the maize results as a justification for GM crops. GM maize cross-pollinates easily by wind and would pose a danger to conventional and organic farmers."

But Paul Rylott, of the Agriculture Biotechnology Commission, said: "This evidence shows that GM crops can enhance biodiversity [only when compared with a banned herbicide that Northn Amercian farmers have, in fact been using with the GM crop!]. It is time to move forward with responsible case-by-case introduction of GM crops."
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Brian Johnson, English Nature - the UK government's wildlife advisors:

"If I were being cynical I would say that Aventis told the govt that only [the herbicide glufosinate ammonium] would be used on these crops in the hope that more weeds would survive in [their GM] crops in the FSEs [trials]. If so, and I have no idea that this is right, then they could argue that the GM crops were better for the environment!  They might then gain marketing consent for [their GM] crops, only for the company then to change the pesticide recommendations to ATZ-type tank mixes."

ATZ refers to Atrazine

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