EPA rubberstamps GMO trials

national | environment | other press Saturday May 06, 2006 23:26 by anon

Says it scientifically safe? NO other factors considered.

GM potato crop trial gets green light
Irish Independent, 6 May 2006. By Aideen Sheehan.

OPPONENTS of genetically modified (GM) crops held an emergency meeting in Co Meath last night to protest at the decision to give the go-ahead to a field trial of GM potatoes.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that German company BASF will be allowed to do a five-year field trial on potatoes engineered for resistance to potato blight.

This provoked an angry reaction from opponents of the technology who had bombarded the EPA with objections to the trial going ahead. The EPA said their consent was subject to stringent conditions and monitoring and the potatoes grown would not be used for food or feed or placed on the market.

The GM potatoes will be grown on a one-hectare site at Arodstown, Summerhill, Co Meath, between now and 2010 and post trial monitoring will continue until 2014.

The EPA said they had consulted widely with all relevant state agencies, including the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, before making a decision, and assessed all 96 submissions on the application, of which 95 were hostile.

The trial would be a huge blow to Ireland's traditional GM-free status and those growing potatoes in Co Meath and neighbouring counties, said Green Party leader Trevor Sargent.

"Farmers need this GM trial like a hole in the head," he said.

GM-Free Ireland spokesman Michael O'Callaghan slated the "premature" decision to give the go-ahead to the trial, given the doubts expressed by EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas over safety assessment of GM foods, and said they would consider taking an injunction against it.

The group held an emergency meeting with farmers, politicians and restaurateurs in Navan last night to discuss what their legal options might be to prevent the GM experiment going ahead in Co Meath.

The EPA was going against the weight of public opinion by allowing multinationals ride roughshod over their best interests, said Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris.

Farmers and consumers will pay the price for what is possibly the worst decision ever made by the EPA, said the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association.

"It's a scandal. This decision is wrong on so many levels. Science has not yet determined the effects that GM crops could have on consumer health.

"All surrounding farms are now extremely vulnerable to contamination," said the ICSA's rural spokesman, John Flynn.