In an effort to respond to consumer concerns while not abandoning biotechnology, the UK government on 9 March approved the commercial growing of genetically modified (GM) corn, but placed stringent conditions on its release. The decision attracted criticism from both the supporters and opponents of biotechnology, leading civil society groups to call for the approval to be reversed while industry groups rejected the planned liability scheme.

In the meantime, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) released the first draft of the report "Maize and Biodiversity: The Effects of Transgenic Maize in Mexico" for public comments. The report examines issues related to gene flow from transgenic varieties of maize to Mexican land races and their wild relatives, and the conservation of biodiversity in this centre of origin.

UK conditionally approves GM maize

The UK decision followed a series of field trials, which showed that herbicide-tolerant GM maize did not have a harmful effect on biodiversity compared with conventional maize varieties. Farmers will be required to grow the crop under the same conditions as the trials and carry out scientific analyses in order to renew their planting rights. The monitoring will be necessary to assess changes in herbicide use given that the weed killer used during the trials is being phased out across Europe. Also, the GM crops will be subject to a liability scheme that would require the biotech companies or GM farmer to pay compensation to organic farmers in case of contamination due to malpractice. GM crops are unlikely to be grown before spring 2005, leaving some time for the government to set up the scheme.

The actual listing of the GM variety in the National Seed List will also need to be approved by Scotland and Wales. Scotland has already decided to back the approval, but will advise farmers not to grow the variety in an effort to keep Scotland GM-free. Wales, in contrast, insists that they would not agree to the listing unless a range of other measures are in place, including co-existence measures, voluntary GM-free zones and the finalisation of the liability scheme.

The approval comes despite widespread consumer opposition to the commercial growing of GM crops in the UK (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 3 October 2003). Several civil society groups have called on the government to reverse the decision. "Tony Blair must not ignore the threat GM poses to our food, farming and the environment," said Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth. The government has so far left it open whether the location of the sites would be publicly released.

For their part, industry groups rejected the plan that biotech companies or GM farmers would be required to pay compensation. "We have not been asked to do anything of the kind anywhere else in the world, we do not intend to start in the UK," said Paul Rylott, head of BioScience UK at Bayer CropScience which owns the GM maize variety. Nevertheless, industry groups signalled their willingness to "talk to the government and see if some suitable arrangement can be made," according to Bernard Marantelli of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council.

GM maize up for vote in the EU

EU Agricultural ministers will have to decide by the end of April to take a decision on Syngenta's genetically modified Bt-11 corn, approved by the European Commission on 28 January (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 6 February 2003). EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy appeared confident that new GMOs would soon be authorised in the EU, thereby ending the continued de facto moratorium on approvals. "There will be new authorisations," Lamy said. "It has to be agreed by a majority of member nations, but in the end it's the Commission that decides."

At the WTO, the examination of the de facto moratorium, challenged by the US, Canada and Argentina, is now set to get underway with the establishment of the panel last week (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 5 March 2004). The US is also coming under increasing pressure from domestic farm groups to bring a WTO dispute against the EU's new labelling and traceability regulations, which will come into effect in April. The rules have come under attack at the WTO during the 17-18 March meeting of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, when the US, Canada, Argentina and Australia reiterated their concerns that the regulations were too restrictive (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 27 June 2002).

CEC seeks comments on GM maize study

The CEC study, which features ten chapters from a range of experts, was presented on 11 March at a Symposium held in Oaxaca, Mexico. The study was undertaken in response to concerns over potentially negative effects of transgenic varieties on land races in Mexico, following allegations that native varieties of corn grown in remote regions of Mexico had been contaminated by transgenic DNA (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 6 December 2001). The study notes that the Mexican government's food aid program, distributing GM maize imported from the US, was the "most likely culprit for disseminating the transgenic maize" and that the de facto moratorium on commercial growing of the maize was insufficient to prevent its dissemination. "The lack of policy concerning the nature of imported maize acted as a missing link to the moratorium," the study notes.

The report also highlights the special importance of maize for Mexico's agricultural sector, culture and environment, all of which need to be taken into account when deciding on the risks and benefits of biotechnology in the country. The study notes that the maize per se -- provided it has no drastic effects -- should have no more impact on farmers' choice and rights than previous maize improvements, nor should transgenic seeds have an impact on traditional practices of seed exchange among Mexican farmers. The report adds that transgenic maize is one more pressure on an already stressed sector, which is impacted by other socio-economic and political factors including poverty, migration, the effects of trade liberalisation and the economic threats resulting from subsidies paid to US farmers.

Background

The CEC was created by Canada, Mexico and the US under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, which complements the environmental provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The CEC Secretariat is compiling the study to assess the main social, economic, agricultural, environmental, ethical and trade issues related to transgenic maize. The study is overseen by a trinational multidisciplinary advisory group of all stakeholders involved to define the scope and breadth of the work. The Commission is seeking public comments on the study until 12 April, which will be taken into account by the advisory group in its recommendations, to be submitted to the three governments.

"Green light for GM crop, but rift threatens planting," GUARDIAN, 10 March 2004; "Wales may still hold GM maize veto," WESTERN MAIL, 16 March 2004; "Ministers face GM showdown," SCOTSMAN, 15 March 2004; "EU's Lamy says Europe may ease access for GM foods," REUTERS, 17 March 2004.