UK Govt Reveals 5 More "Unpublicized" Biocrop Trial Sites
Dow Jones Newswires 9oct00
LONDON -- The U.K.'s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food confirmed Monday that another five trial sites to test genetically modified corn have been planted, though the sites weren't publicized.
The trial crops, planted in Oxfordshire, Somerset, North Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and Shropshire, were used to evaluate seed quality with a view to including the seeds in the U.K.'s national seed list, a MAFF spokeswoman said.
Last Monday MAFF said an "unpublicized" GM corn trial site had been planted in a Devon farm.
U.K. environmental organizations say that without knowledge of where GM crop trials are located, conventional and organic crops could have been contaminated through cross-pollination with the GM crops.
"This news is outrageously and deeply disturbing. These crops threaten organic and conventional crops through cross-pollination. Now farmers don't know where that threat is coming from," said Adrian Bebb, GM campaigner at Friends of the Earth.
Harry Hadaway, spokesman for the U.K.'s Soil Association, said: "We're just shocked at this news; now we need to do a risk assessment on all organic farmers and beehives around the sites to make sure there's no cross-pollination."
The seed used in the five trials belong to Aventis CropScience and Dutch company Van Der Have BV, though there isn't a breakdown available of how many of the sites belong to each company, the MAFF spokeswoman added.
Aventis and Van Der Have weren't immediately available for comment.
The news comes during a public hearing to decide whether to include the GM seed Chardon LL, which belongs to Aventis CropScience, in the U.K.'s national seed list.
If included, Chardon LL would be the first genetically modified seed to gain access to the list, without which it can't be marketed in the U.K.
Aventis CropScience is the U.K. operation of France's Aventis S.A. (F.AVE).
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