Boost for drive against GM crops (From Gazette & Herald)

Boost for drive against GM crops

A LEADING North Yorkshire campaigner against genetically modified crops has welcomed news that GM crop growing in Britain is unlikely to go ahead for the "foreseeable future".

German biotechnology company Bayer CropScience has decided not to cultivate herbicide-resistant maize, blaming Government constraints which would make the crop "economically non-viable".

The decision comes only weeks after the Government agreed in principle to allow GM maize to be grown as a crop.

Ryedale councillor John Clark, who hit the headlines only last weekend with a special tactic against GM crops, said: "It's a step in the right direction." But he stressed that the campaign would continue to prevent all GM crops of any variety being grown.

The Liberal councillor has called for residents to plant maize in their gardens, allotments or window boxes, in the belief that this would force the Government into wider public consultation if any Ryedale farmers applied for a GM licence. The farmer, who is based at Cropton Mill, near Pickering, said the campaign had "gone silly" after starting off as a campaign for Ryedale, with people contacting him from all over the country, and about 100 already ordering plants.

Friends of the Earth said Bayer's announcement was "very welcome", as well as acutely embarrassing for government ministers.

"This GM maize had serious question marks about its safety and performance and should never have been given UK approval," said a spokesman.

In a statement, Bayer CropScience, the only company eligible to grow the crop, said government-imposed conditions would stall GM maize production for too long.

"The specific details of these conditions are still not available and thus will result in yet another open-ended period of delay," it said.

"These uncertainties and undefined timelines will make this five-year-old variety economically non-viable."

The move is likely to put an end to GM crop growing in this country for "the foreseeable future", a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

Environment minister Elliot Morley said: "We do not apologise for the fact there is a tough EU-wide regulatory regime on GMs. It applies to the whole of the EU, not just the UK.

"We always said it would be for the market to decide the viability of growing and selling GM once the Government assessed safety and risk."

Updated: 10:56 Thursday, April 01, 2004