Government blasted over GM crop trials

A report by Government advisors was published in early September which said that farm scale trials are not an adequate justification for the commercialisation of GM crops. The Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC), which is also highly critical of the way the GM trials have been run, says that there must be a wider public consultation before GM crops are grown commercially.

Pete Riley, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth said: "Congratulations to the AEBC for having the courage to point out the inadequacies that riddle the GM farm scale trials. These fundamental flaws are hardly a surprise: we have pointed them out to the Government on numerous occasions. The GM trials have always been far more about politics than about rigorous science

The very least the Government should do is abandon these trials until they have properly addressed issues such as contamination and liability. More fundamentally, they should recognise that they can't impose GM crops and food on a public which quite obviously doesn't want them."