Maize crop grown for cattle fodder in Somerset

The European Union has today (Friday 15th April) decided to prohibit all imports of US maize gluten feed which cannot be guaranteed free of Bt10, an illegal GM maize variety that has recently contaminated US farms and been imported into the EU. This decision is likely to mean a de facto ban on all US maize imports, since the GM company Syngenta, which produced Bt10 maize, has been unable to provide a method to detect for its presence.

Greenpeace warned that without more coherent action by EU governments Europe will remain exposed to high-risk imports of illegal GMOs, in wheat, rice, soybeans and rape seed, as well as maize.

Greenpeace GM Campaigner Ben Ayliffe said: "There's no point the EU having rules on importing GM crops if companies like Syngenta or the US government can flout them whenever they choose, so it's about time the EU blocked US maize that could be contaminated with Bt10. This whole affair has not only shown just how uncontrollable GM crops are, but also how lax the current GM controls are on both sides of the Atlantic. Bt10 maize is illegal and untested, but was still imported here for years without anyone knowing."

This GM contamination case is not the first of its kind, and without stronger action by the EU and member states it might not be the last. Just days ago, Greenpeace revealed that batches of rice in China had been contaminated with an illegal and completely untested strain of GM rice. China exported more than 15,000 tonnes of rice to the EU in 2003.

Ben Ayliffe added: "Bt10 shows that the GM industry is out of control. The EU needs to smarten up its act to protect consumers and the environment, but there are also worrying signs that here in the UK, authorities have done nothing to stop the import of this illegal GM maize."

Further information
Contact the Greenpeace Press Office on 020 7865 8255 or Ben Ayliffe on 020 7865 8282.

Find out more on the Bt10 incident.

 

Rice growing in Hubei province, China

An illegal strain of GM rice grown in China and not approved for human consumption could have been imported into the UK and entered the food supply.

Greenpeace is calling for an urgent, international product recall after uncovering the illegal release of the rice in China. The tainted food staple, which is genetically engineered to produce an inbuilt pesticide, may have contaminated Chinese rice exports. As one of the largest rice importers in Europe, the UK buys hundreds of tons of rice from China every year.

A Greenpeace research team uncovered the GM rice being sold and grown illegally in the central Chinese province of Hubei. The Greenpeace team were first alerted to the scandal after conducting a web-search and discovering the illegal rice for sale on the internet. After collecting samples of rice seed, unmilled and milled rice, testing by international laboratory Genescan confirmed the presence of GM DNA.

As a major exporter of rice, it is expected that the contamination scandal could have significant trade and market impacts. In 2001, a similar case in the USA sparked a $1billion product recall after a strain of GM corn illegally entered the food chain.

The Chinese GM rice is linked to potentially causing allergic reactions in humans. Yet despite inducing allergic responses in mice, there has been no human food safety testing of this strain of GM rice, known as Bt rice.

Sarah North, GM campaigner for Greenpeace, said:"This dodgy rice could have serious consequences for human health and the environment. And it could already be on UK supermarket shelves.

"This is just another sorry example of how the GM industry is out of control. A small group of rogue scientists have taken the worlds most important staple food crop and are subjecting the public to a scandalous experiment."

Further Information
Contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255 or Sarah North on 020 7865 8163.

For a copy of the Genescan test results, maps of where the GM contamination is in China and summaries of Chinese rice exports by country, contact the Greenpeace press office.

As the United States prepares to launch a trade war over European plans to label all GM food, a new MORI poll reveals that British consumers want European leaders like Tony Blair to stand up to George Bush and defend their right to know what they're eating.

The Bush Administration is angry about a proposal to amend an EU Directive, which would make it compulsory to label all food containing GM ingredients or derivatives. The EU has already applied an informal moratorium on approvals for GM crops. Now the United States is preparing to demand that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) overturns the proposed amendment. Washington is threatening a trade war if Brussels doesn't back down.

In March of this year Peter Kurz, trade official at the US embassy in London, told a House of Lords Select Committee that his government would be making it clear to the WTO that the EU proposals are "not workable and could unduly impair trade." He argued they would "set a precedent that could also be applied to non-agricultural industries," before adding, "We do not see any ground for compromise in these proposals."

A new MORI poll released today demonstrates that the British public strongly supports the EU initiative. 76% said the labelling of all food with GM ingredients should be made compulsory. But if the US action succeeds, consumers will have no idea if they are eating GM food.

Greenpeace campaigner Charlie Kronick said: "Tony Blair has a choice. He can defend US corporations or he can defend British people. George Bush is determined to help America's GM industry dominate Europe's food supply, but Mr Blair is better placed than anybody to stop him. The Prime Minister should stand up to Bush and protect the rights of British consumers and our environment."

The poll also reveals that public resistance to GM food is still widespread, despite claims by the industry that opposition to the technology is fading. MORI found that the number of people who believe the risks of GM food outweigh the benefits, outnumber supporters of the technology by two to one (39% vs 18% - with the remainder either undecided or feeling the risks / benefits are about the same).

Countries including China, Croatia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and New Zealand have sought to implement restrictions on GM imports or introduce compulsory labelling. In each case they backed down after the US threatened action at the WTO. Now the Bush administration is employing a similar tactic against the EU. In February this year US trade representative Robert Zoellick told the House of Representatives that the EU stance was "totally unacceptable I'm strongly considering bringing a WTO action." He added, "I want to put a real focus on this this year."

Greenpeace has written to Tony Blair asking him to clarify the position of the UK government on this issue and urging him to stand up to bush. To date no reply had been received.

Notes to editors:
Existing EU regulations require the labelling of certain GM food products. This means that at present if a product contains more than 1% of GM material it must be labelled. The EU proposes to amend the regulations, extending the labelling scheme to include animal feed and all products containing and derived from GM ingredients. As such, for example, oil from GM soya beans would have to be labelled. If the US action succeeds, both the existing regulations and the proposed amendment could be threatened.

Between 18-22 April 2002 MORI interviewed 1,004 adults aged 15+ face-to-face in their homes. In total, 193 sampling points were covered by the nationally representative quota sample, and final results are weighted to the adult population.

MORI asked: "From what you know or have heard about GM food, on balance, which of these statements, if any, most closely reflects your opinion?" 18% said the benefits outweigh the risks to some degree, 39% said the risks outweigh the benefits. The remainder thought the risks and benefits were about the same (24%) or did not know (18%).

MORI also asked: "Thinking now about the labelling of GM food products (that is the identification and explanation of the ingredients on the product's packaging), which, if any, of these statements comes closest to your own opinion?" 76% said it should be compulsory to identify all products with GM ingredients, 11% said it should only be compulsory to identify products with GM ingredients above a certain level, but not all GM products, 6% said it should not be compulsory to identify products with GM ingredients at all and 7% didn't know.

Kurz comments to House of Lords Select Committee, from Lords hear conflicting views on EU proposals on GM food labelling, ENDS Reports, Issue No 326, March 2002.

Zoellick comments, from US moots GM action, The Grocer, February 16th 2002.

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255