Lewes MP Norman Baker has today added his backing to a campaign to protect the right of shoppers to buy GM-free food in the UK by signing a House of Commons motion which calls upon the Government to back a new law to prevent GM contamination. The new law - the Genetically Modified Organisms Bill - has been brought before Parliament by a cross-party group of backbench MPs and is scheduled to be debated in the Commons on 26th March. This follows a change to EU law in the summer which made it quite clear that it was up to Parliament to set laws to prevent contamination in the UK. Despite this, the Government has not brought forward any new laws, and the matter has been left to backbench MPs.
The GMO Bill would regulate any future planting of GM crops - whether that be further trial plantings or, in the future, commercial planting. It would make no difference to the chances of a crop being approved for planting in the UK - for which separate permissions or "release consents" will continue to be required. For any crop that did receive a consent however, the Bill would require a minimum distance between GM and non-GM varieties of the crop; require farmers to control any GM crops that might spread to neighbouring fields or hedges, and ensure that separate farm machinery, transport and storage facilities are used for GM and non-GM crops to avoid mixing the two up.
The Bill would also ensure that any farmer who found his crop contaminated with GM, could recover damages from the GM company responsible. The value of a farmer's crop could plummet if contaminated, as most major supermarkets and food manufacturers in this country will not buy GM foods.
Commenting on this, Norman said:
"I am delighted to add my support to this important Bill to protect people's choice on GM food. If we don't stop crops being contaminated in the fields, then we lose any choice to avoid GM food. It is no good the Government claiming to support choice, but not introducing the necessary laws to prevent our foods being contaminated.
"Along with the vast majority of the public, I am still completely unconvinced that we should allow commercial planting of GM crops. But it is still essential we have these rules in place to govern future crop trials - and frankly it is a disgrace that the Government has allowed 400 fields to be planted with GM crops without ever passing laws to prevent contamination or allow farmers to claim for any harm they suffer as a result of GM crops."
ENDS A copy of the motion that Norman signed is below.
EDM 462 Genetically Modified Organisms and Consumer Choice (please click on the title to see which other MPs have signed this EDM)
That this House believes that whatever the outcome of debates on the risks and the merits of genetically modified crops and foods, consumers must be able to choose whether or not they eat GM crops, and farmers must have confidence that they will be reimbursed for any loss caused by the inadvertent spread of GM crops onto their land; further believes that to achieve this, all future GM crop trials and any other GM planting must be carried out according to rules which prevent conventional and organic crops being contaminated by GM traits; notes the European Commission decision that such rules are the responsibility of national parliaments, and so welcomes the introduction of the Genetically Modified Organisms Bill; and believes that the debates on this Bill should allow Parliament to determine science-based rules for any future planting of genetically modified organisms which will stop contamination and preserve consumer choice
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