"Our land isn't a laboratory" / Call for honesty from BASF and DEFRA (24/4/2007)

1.'OUR LAND ISN'T A LABORATORY'

2.Freeze Calls for Honesty from BASF and Defra on the GM Spud Trials

EXTRACTS: "I think the big turnout shows the strength of public feeling against GM crops and food. It is neither needed nor wanted." (item 1)

"It's time BASF came clean and made a clear, honest statement about the true purpose behind these risky trials and presented clear evidence that the GM spuds are safe. Defra should not approve the trial until the safety has been established." (item 2)

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1.'OUR LAND ISN'T A LABORATORY'
Hull Daily Mail, 23 April 2007
http://www.thisishull.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=136731&command=displayContent&sourceNode=136377&contentPK=17154980&folderPk=79650&pNodeId=136290

They came from all corners of the country to appeal to an East Yorkshire farmer to ditch a controversial genetically modified (GM) crops trial.

More than 150 protesters joined a rally and march to urge Michael Wilkin to abandon plans for the tests in Preston, near Hedon.

Some of the demonstrators hammered home their message by symbolically planting organic potatoes near the GM potato trial site.

Campaigners listened to anti-GM speakers at the rally in Preston Road Community Centre, east Hull.

Then marchers carried placards and banners amid a strong police presence to ensure the nationally publicised demonstration passed off peacefully.

Organic grower Dr Gwen Egginton, one of the speakers, said: "We are appealing to the farmer to ditch the trial because it is something nobody wants except the big biotech firms.

"It is not too late. He could still say "no" and really he is the only person who can stop this nonsense.

"If we don't keep up the pressure against genetically modified crops, Britain will go the same way as the US and Canada and we will be eating GM food without even knowing it."

Dr Egginton, of Nafferton, near Driffield, vowed the East Yorkshire campaign would go on even if the potato trial went ahead.

"We have done really well so far in this country in keeping it GM-free, but we must keep up the pressure to stop trials of this technology, which is plainly not wanted," she said.

Mr Wilkin, of Humber Lane, Welwick, has agreed to lease a hectare of land to test potatoes genetically modified with a gene to resist devastating fungal disease late blight.

Pressure is mounting on him to abandon the trial because of the impact it might have on neighbouring crops, such as borage, where honey bees are used for pollination.

Beekeepers do not want to take their hives to the fields because of the risk their honey will be contaminated.

German firm BASF Plant Science approached Mr Wilkin after a Derbyshire farmer pulled out of the same trial.

Protester Carl McCoy, 32, of Cottingham Road, west Hull, said: "There is a huge demand for organic food. The Government should be supporting organic farmers and growers."

The rally and march was organised by the recently formed Hedon Against GM. Hull and East Riding Green Party secretary Martin Deane, 44, of Princes Avenue, west Hull, said people from all over the country turned up.

He said: "I think the big turnout shows the strength of public feeling against GM crops and food. It is neither needed nor wanted."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consultation on the trial ended on Friday.

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2.Freeze Calls for Honesty from BASF and Defra on the GM Spud Trials
PRESS RELEASE
Immediate release 24th April 2007

GM Freeze has called for Defra and BASF to be open with local people in East Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire about both the facts of and the purpose for the GM potato trials planned in each place. Defra must delay any decision on trials until the safety of the potatoes has been established.

At a recent meeting BASF officials confirmed to GM Freeze that the genes used in the GM potatoes came from aÝMexican wild relative of the potato and not, as previously stated by BASF, a 'wild potato'. [1]

While the wild relative, Solanum bulbocastanum, is found in Mexico and cannot naturally cross breed with potatoes, potatoes are members of the nightshade family - a group of plants known to naturally produce toxins. [2] There are concerns that such toxins from the wild relative may be carried into the GM potatoes inadvertently and thus enter the food chain.

There is also confusion over the purposes of the trials. The BASF applications states:

'The purpose of the release of the genetically modified plant, including its initial use and any intention to use it as or in a product in the future.

The trials will be conducted for development purposes. In the first three to four years the purpose of the small-scale experimental trial will be the screening of events for improved resistance to Phytophthora infestans (proof of concept under UK field conditions with UK specific Phytophthora infestans strains). In addition during the course of the trial the following will be observed and recorded: agronomic performance (e.g. plant vigour and yield), and selected plant characteristics (e.g. emergence, flowering, maturation), as well as stability of the trait.'

The trial will also be used to gather environmental data required to obtain commercial approval for the GM potatoes.

However in February a Defra press release ignored many of the commercial aspects of the trial: 'The trials will test the effectiveness of the potato's resistance against UK strains of the disease.' [3]

In contrast, in a February press release BASF were confident that the GM potatoes were blight resistant: 'The plants BASF will be field testing have already shown (in the greenhouse and the field) that they can complement the existing resistance and provide the plant with much stronger protection from late blight.' [4]

BASF confirmed to GM Freeze that they intend to test 80 lines of GM potatoes in East Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire.

Commenting Pete Riley of GM Freeze said:

'BASF confirmed to me that their previous greenhouse and outdoor trials in Europe have already convinced them that GM blight resistance is effective. It is now clear that the Cambridgeshire and East Yorkshire trials are about the commercial development of GM potatoes and not merely to test if the resistance is effective. The use of genes from a wild relative of potatoes, and not wild potatoes, raise additional safety concerns that need to be cleared up before outdoor trials commence.Ý We need to be sure that none of the 80 GM lines are producing unexpected toxins. The company and Defra are guilty of putting out misleading information. It's time BASF came clean and made a clear, honest statement about the true purpose behind these risky trials and present clear evidence that the GM spuds are safe. Defra should not approve the trial until the safety has been established.'

ENDs

Calls to Pete Riley 07903 341065

1. 'The potatoes have been modified, using a natural trait found in a wild potato, to resist the devastating fungal disease late blight.' BASF press release, 27 February 2007. CW669-07

2. British Poisonous Plants. MAFF Bulletin 161 1968 - potatoes produce toxins known as alkaloidal glycosides or solanines in the green parts of the plant. Symptoms include chronic anaemia, gastritis and can be fatal in humans if not treated.

3. See http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2007/070227b.htm and also http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2006/061201b.htm

4. BASF press release, 27 February 2007. CW669-07


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