www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Trials of genetically modified crops are taking place again in the UK three
years after being abandoned over ecological concerns.
A crop of GM potatoes was planted last weekend and a report commissioned by
the Government calls for a change in the way agriculture is regulated in the
UK.

The study by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment suggests
Britain should ease back on controls and embrace new technology and could
leave the way open for a more general return of genetic modification in
crops.

Acre's Chris Pollack said: "We have to accept that the world is changing,
that population pressure is increasing and that there is going to be more
competition for resources in the future, particularly for energy and for
water.

"We are going to be facing new pressures on European land and it would be
unfortunate if we turned our backs on new technology that could help."

The Government has licensed two open air trials in the UK. One, on a farm
near Cambridge, was planted by the bio-technology firm BASF.

The trial site is surrounded by a 20-metre protection zone to avoid
cross-ontamination but according to Friends of the Earth, the trial is not
independently monitored with requirements for many safety tests being
dropped.

FoE's Clare Oxborrow said: "There are particular concerns around this BASF
GM potato trial which have been raised by the local community and local
farmers.

"One of them is the risk of contaminating future potato crops and the fact
is that BASF has not been required to carry out anything like a serious
safety assessment so if they do get into the food chain we have no idea of
what the impact could be."

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