The UK's Gene Technology Bill, which removes regulatory safeguards from a whole subclass of GMOs, passed into law today with the royal assent of the King. BBC science correspondent and longtime pro-GMO propagandist Pallab Ghosh got the story wrong, claiming that "Commercial development of gene-edited food [is] now legal in England" and "Gene-edited food can now be developed commercially in England following a change in the law". In reality, any GM foods that had been approved at EU level could be marketed in all countries of the bloc, including the UK pre-Brexit. EU Member States have for many years voted against commercial cultivation of GMOs, yet many have been imported and used in animal feed, and there never have been laws restricting research to "develop" GM crops, including gene-edited ones. It's just that GMOs have been regulated in the EU – meaning that they are subject to risk assessment, traceability and GMO labelling. These regulatory safeguards have now been removed by the UK government, creating a lawless "Wild West" for GMO developers. In the EU and pre-Brexit UK, the only things that have impeded GM crop "development" are the inherent limitations of GM technology, the fact that EU Member States see no benefit in GMOs, and the fact that almost no one wants to buy or use them. GMWatch comment on BBC News article

 

 

Ghosh's article (see above) quotes Pat Thomas of Beyond GM as saying that she is "concerned that gene-edited crops will not have to go through the extensive testing required of GM foods in the EU, which may result in the introduction of toxins and allergens into the food chain". She said, "The entire process of this bill has been of the government consulting scientists with vested interests, usually in the biotech industry, who are reassuring the government that this change in the law will have no consequences. History has shown that when you remove regulatory control, particularly for food and the environment, there is looming disaster on the horizon." Here are Pat Thomas's other comments on the bill. Beyond GM comment on BBC News article and today's news development

 

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