Note the petition that can be signed online at http://www.gmfreeireland.org

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Farmers ask council to ban GM trials
By Christina Hession
The Meath Chronicle, 3 May 2006
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

A NUMBER of farmers in the Summerhill area are to formally request Meath County Council to pass a motion prohibiting the cultivation of genetically modified (GMO) seeds and crops in Meath.

The landowners are also asking the local authority to exclude county council funding for the procurement of food containing GM ingredients and to prohibit the transportation of live GMO seeds (including rape seed approved for animal feed) on roads in its jurisdiction.

At an emergency meeting in Summerhill last week, local farmers expressed concern about the economic impacts of GMO contamination on the future of Irish farming.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received 96 submissions from the public, of which all but one oppose the proposed five-year experiment with 450,000 patented genetically modified potatoes near Summerhill. The GM experiment is thought likely to get the go-ahead in coming weeks.

Jim Cosgrave, a drystock and tillage farm from Enfield, said farmers who become contaminated by GM potatoes or GM superweeds would not only face patent issues, but would also face mandatory GM labelling, loss of market share and a significant drop in the property value of their land.

According to the GM-Free Ireland Network, which organised the meeting, the local community is worried about the fact that farmers who become contaminated by the patented potatoes may lose ownership of their crops. They are also worried about the scientific evidence of health and environmental risks and a threatened boycott of Irish potatoes if the experiment goes ahead.

BASF Plant Science GmbH, a subsidiary of the world's largest chemicals company, notified the EPA on 13th January last of its intention to conduct the open air experiment to test the GMO potatoes, which have been modified with DNA from viruses, bacteria and a Mexican wild potato relative to make them more blight-resistant.

The experiment will take place on a farm at Arodstown from this month to October 2010. Under the EC's precautionary rules for GMO trials, the EPA has 28 days to approve or reject the application. Failure to do so provides the applicant with an automatic go ahead. The current deadline for the EPA's decision is Friday 12th May.

The GM-Free Ireland Network is hosting another meeting in the Newgrange Hotel, Navan, this Friday night at 8pm. It has indicated that over 5,000 citizens have signed a petition requesting the Government to join other EU countries with a blanket ban on GM seeds and crops.

Michael O'Callaghan of the GM-Free Ireland Network said it was clearly in the economic, health and environmental interest of Meath farmers and consumers to prevent the GMO potato experiment from going ahead. "So long as this Government continues to put the interests of trans-national biotech companies before the food security of its own citizens by failing to prohibit all GMO seeds and crops, it is up to local communities and county councils to take responsibility."
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Emergency meeting held in Trim over GM controversy
The Meath Chronicle, 3 May 2006 http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

IN THE global controversy over corporate control of agricultural seeds, crops and food, an emergency community meeting was held last week in Summerhill, Co Meath.

The village is next door to the site of a proposed five-year experiment with 450,000 patented genetically modified (GMO) potatoes. The stated purpose is to test the GMO spuds, which have been modified with DNA from viruses, bacteria and a Mexican wild potato relative to make them more blight resistant - even though varieties of blight-resistant spuds are already available in Ireland.

Some residents in the local community say they are worried about the fact that farmers who become contaminated by the patented potatoes may lose ownership of their crops.

They are also worried about the scientific evidence of health and environmental risks, the impact on property values, and a threatened boycott of Irish potatoes if the experiment goes ahead (the EPA will decide sometime in mid-May).

A single gust of wind or insect carrying pollen from the GMO spuds is all it takes for contamination that would be "impossible to reverse for thousands of years to come", say some anti-GM campaigners.

BASF Plant Science GmbH, a subsidiary of the world's largest chemicals company BASF, notified the EPA on 13th January of its intention to conduct the open-air experiment on a farm at Arodstown, next to the Teagasc Grange Research Centre in Summerhill. Teagasc denies it owns the land. The EPA refused to reveal the exact location of the site, but it is believed the land belongs to a retired Fianna Fail councillor from Co Louth.

Meanwhile, BASF wants to run the experiment from May 2006 to October 2010. Under the EC's "positive but precautionary" rules for GMO field trials, the EPA has 28 days to approve or reject the application; failure to do so provides the applicant with an automatic go ahead.

But Kathryn Marsh, a member of the EPA's GMO Advisory Committee who spoke at the meeting last week, indicated the BASF notification was vague and that the EPA has already stopped the clock five times to request more information from BASF. The current deadline for the EPA's decision is 12th May.

The GM-free Ireland Network, which hosted the meeting, screened the first half of a documentary film called 'The Future of Food' as part of its national campaign to inform local communities about the risks of GMO seeds and crops.

Over 5,000 citizens have signed a petition requesting the Government to join other EU countries with a blanket ban on GM seeds and crops. The petition can be signed online at http://www.gmfreeireland.org

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