GM debate fiasco/Devon votes to go GM-free (23/1/2003) | |
23 January 2003 GM DEBATE FIASCO/DEVON VOTES TO GO GM-FREE *GM PUBLIC DEBATE FIASCO *** GM PUBLIC DEBATE FIASCO The Government's proposed public debate in the UK on GM crops and food is becoming a fiasco say Friends of the Earth after Welsh Rural Affairs Minister Mike German called for the debate to be delayed until summer 2003. In a letter to GM debate chair Professor Malcolm Grant, Mr German stated "Two or three months is the sort of time scale envisaged and we think that any lessening of that time scale could seriously undermine its purpose" and asked that the committee "consider a two-three month debate taking place in summer 2003. This would allow more time to debate the issues with the due consideration they deserve". Mike German also supports the view that the public debate should include the results of the Farm Scale Evaluations due to be published in July. FoE also urge the GM debate steering group to "stand up and fight for a full and wide ranging debate so the public can have their say on the future of GM crops and food" More information - Friends of the Earth *** Devon votes to go GM-free ""The deal would be this: If the Americans would stop lying about us, we would stop telling the truth about them." - EU Development Commissioner Poul Nielson quoted in 'EU's Nielson blasts U.S. "lies" in GM food row' "Zambia is a sovereign country and makes its own decisions. Zambians do not need to be heroic to assert their sovereignty... GM-free supplies are available in surplus in southern Africa. Europe's policy is to provide food aid procured in the region, rather than as a means of disposing of domestic stocks." - Pascal Lamy, the EU's trade commissioner quoted in The Case for Caution: 'We believe that citizens should have the right to choose' Lamy's message has been put more bluntly by Alex Wijeratna of the development charity ActionAid, "The UN confirms there is enough non-GM food in southern Africa and on world markets... The US should [untie its aid] and stop putting a GM gun to the head of hungry Zambians." |