Evaluating GM crops and foods in the UK - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Evaluating GM crops and foods in the UK

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... effects including on weed seed bank, some bees and butterflies in field margins ... Decline in farmland bird species associated with intensive agriculture ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Evaluating GM crops and foods in the UK


1
Evaluating GM crops and foods in the UK
  • Sue Mayer
  • GeneWatch UK
  • www.genewatch.org

2
Outline
  • Current UK situation
  • How arrived at
  • The farm scale evaluations and indirect impacts
  • Implications of centralised decision making under
    Food and Feed Regs 1829/2003

3
UK situation
  • No GM crops grown in UK
  • GM soya and maize imported for animal feed
  • Consultations on coexistence and liability
    (economic and environmental) rules about to start
  • Government commitment not to grow GM crops until
    rules in place

4
How UK position arrived at
  • Considerable public opposition
  • Concerns from conservation groups about impacts
    of GMOs on biodiversity - farm-scale evaluations
  • GM debate
  • GM science review - acknowledged uncertainties
  • costs and benefits evaluation - market dependent
  • public debate - skeptical about risk vs benefit

5
GM farm scale evaluations
  • Investigate effects of indirect effects on
    biodiversity of growing GM herbicide tolerant
    crops
  • GM sugar beet (glyphosate tolerant) winter and
    spring oilseed rape (glufosinate tolerant)
    surprisingly clear adverse effects including on
    weed seed bank, some bees and butterflies in
    field margins
  • GM maize (glufosinate tolerant) compared to
    atrazine (now banned) had less adverse effects on
    biodiversity

6
Implications for UK
  • Decline in farmland bird species associated with
    intensive agriculture
  • GM herbicide tolerant oilseed rape/sugar beet
    likely to increase pressure on bird and other
    species
  • UK will vote against proposals

7
European consents
  • Food and Feed Regulations give Europe-wide
    consent
  • Concerns about agricultural biodiversity may not
    given weight by EFSA GMO panel (ecologists poorly
    represented GMOs given benefit of the doubt)
  • Commission will rely on EFSA panel
  • Difficult to access documents
  • Regional issues likely to be marginalised
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