06/May/22

 

The UK government's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) has published its guidance on GM techniques that produce a hypothetical class of GMOs that it claims "could have been produced by traditional breeding techniques or could have arisen through natural processes". The guidance follows on from the statutory instrument passed by the Westminster government that exempts from the controls of the GMO regulations certain new GM plants ("qualifying higher plants" or QHPs) produced with technologies such as gene editing, for research purposes and other non-marketing uses, if the developers claim that they "could have" arisen naturally. Developers who intend to grow these experimental crops in fields will be allowed to self-determine if their plants are QHPs and they do not have to submit evidence to prove that they are. We find the guidance shockingly irresponsible in three aspects: Its wide-ranging scope, its wilful disregard of the science that underpins new GM technologies, and its vague and imprecise language. In total, the document legitimises a "Wild West" of unregulated plantings by any Tom, Dick or Harry who is seized by a whim to play around with GMOs. GMWatch

 

 

We've published a booklet giving an easy-to-read introduction to older-style and new GM crops and foods. "GMO Myths and Facts: What they don't want to tell you about genetically modified crops and foods" is sponsored by the Sheepdrove Trust and is available at the link above or via the front page of our website (top of right hand menu) when viewed on a computer. GMWatch

 

 

Agrichemical giant Bayer helped fund a study by university academics, then pressured them to omit photos that implicated a defective insecticide-treated seed product as a threat to bees, according to communications obtained by US Right to Know. Several seed and insecticide companies, including Bayer, paid researchers to determine how much their insecticide-coated seed products affected bees during corn planting season in 2014 and 2015. After the researchers presented their preliminary results to “stakeholders", which included funders, a Bayer official asked that their final report exclude photos of insecticide-coated corn seeds in which the product appeared defective. He also urged the researchers to qualify statements in the final report that discussed threats to bee health in ways that benefited Bayer’s corporate interests. US Right to Know