UK government advisers say GM maize variety safe
Date: 18-Dec-02
Country: UK
Britain's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) held a hearing on the stalled decision to approve sale of maize seeds, called Chardon LL and owned by biotech firm Bayer CropScience Ltd, after concerns raised about testing by green group Friends of the Earth (FoE).
Britain had said in 2000 that it would allow Chardon LL seeds, to go on its National Seed List, which would allow them to be sold to British farmers for commercial use.
But the decision was stalled after independent scientists presented evidence showing that the maize variety had been tested for only one year instead of the necessary two.
"ACRE has carefully considered the scientific points made in written representations and submissions for the Chardon LL public hearing...No evidence was presented to alter ACRE's previous risk assessment," the committee said in a statement published on its website.
However, the government's Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF) have asked for information from Bayer CropScience confirming that that silage from the GM maize is the same as conventional maize silage.
No GM crops can be approved for commercial growing in the UK until completion of a three-year test planting programme, designed to measure the impact of such crops, but the final stages of those trials are approaching.
Environmentalists say GM crops will contaminate traditional varieties and change the countryside, while some scientists argue that they could solve world hunger.
The government called a public debate on the issue earlier this year, but that has already drawn criticism as the budget and time-scale for discussion is tight.
Bayer said it was delighted with ACRE's assessment.
"Never before has a seed variety been under such scrutiny - a variety of forage maize which we believe farmers in the UK should not be denied the use of," Bayer CropScience spokesman Julian Little told Reuters.
"We are delighted that ACRE has considered all of the evidence given... we are pleased that ACRE agreed that this variety of maize is as safe as any conventional non-GM variety," he added.
But FoE said ACRE's findings were a face saving exercise.
"This GM crop should never have been approved in the first place," the group's spokesman said.
"The result is that a GM crop with serious safety question marks hanging over it is allowed on to our plates and to be grown in our countryside," he added.
