UK OK with GMO Corn

[Timber Loftis]

But not beets or rapes. Check below for more info from today's BNA Reporter:
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Biotechnology
Safety of Genetically Modified Maize
Endorsed by U.K. Science Advisers


LONDON--Genetically modified maize can be grown safely in the United Kingdom if the cultivation matches conditions in GM maize crop trials held during the past three years in the United Kingdom, U.K. government advisers said.
However, the government's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment said a GM beet and rape crop should not be sold in Britain if their conditions matched GM beet and rape crop trials. The trials of beet and spring oilseed rape crop, which were altered genetically to make them tolerant to herbicides, had harmed wildlife. The decline in insects reduced the seed consumed by the birds, reducing the bird population slightly.

ACRE said the results of the government-sponsored evaluations, issued Jan. 13, did not demonstrate evidence of adverse environmental effects providing the maize crops were grown in a way similar to those tested. The evaluations were carried out over a three-year period to test the impact on farmland wildlife of the herbicide use associated with three types of herbicide-tolerant GM crops: maize, beet, and spring oilseed rape. The results were published in October 2003.

Paul Rylott of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council, which represents the biotech industry, said the advice "confirms that GM crops can benefit the environment."

However, ACRE Deputy Chairman Jules Pretty said ACRE's advice "confirms the case-by-case approach taken by ACRE for GM crops.

"This is neither a green light for GMOs nor a death knell for them," Pretty said during a Jan. 13 news conference. "It is simply the same kind of process, of taking forward case-by-case as we have done in the past."


Government Decision Due in February

The government will now consider the advice before reaching decisions on the GM crops in February. On the basis of that decision, Britain will press for existing EU marketing consents for the GM crops to be revoked or amended.
"In October, we welcomed the publication of the results of the farm-scale evaluations--the largest study of its kind ever undertaken--and today we welcome the advice of ACRE on the implications," said Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett in a Jan. 13 statement. "We will now consider ACRE's advice very carefully before reaching a view on whether these crops should be approved for cultivation in the EU."

There are currently no GM crops being grown in the United Kingdom and none have all the approvals required for commercial cultivation. The government has consistently said that its chief concern is to protect human health and the environment, and to ensure genuine consumer choice.

Text of ACRE's full advice is available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/...e_advice44.pdf on the World Wide Web.

By Patrick Tracey