Originally from: PoppaC
                        
http://www.iht.com/articles/509033.html

Report asks Blair to block Bloomberg News
Saturday, March 6, 2004
The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain should withhold approval of genetically modified crops for at least four years while more trials are conducted, a parliamentary committee said Friday.
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"It would be irresponsible of the government to permit the commercial growing of GM crops" without reviews of research from North America and the Britain, the Environmental Audit Committee said in a report. Existing trials of a genetically modified corn developed by a Bayer unit were "invalid," it said.
.
Peter Ainsworth, the committee chairman and a member of the opposition Conservatives, said leaked minutes from a cabinet panel suggest "a decision to open the door to the commercial growing of genetically modified crops is imminent."
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Margaret Beckett, the secretary for environment, food and rural affairs, may announce a decision on licensing of genetically modified crops next week.
.
"No substantive ministerial announcements should be made until the government has formally responded to the issues raised in this report," Ainsworth said in a statement. A process for determining liability for damage caused by contamination from fields sown with gene-altered crops must be established before they can be cultivated, the report said.
.
The Guardian newspaper and BBC reported last month that the cabinet's subcommittee on the crops had approved the commercial cultivation in England of a corn developed by Bayer CropScience.
.
A government-sponsored survey last year found that 54 percent of those polled never want genetically modified crops grown in Britain.
.
More than 90 percent of the 36,557 respondents said genetically modified crops might damage the environment and pose health risks.
.
Only Spain among the European Union's 15 members has any sizable cultivation of genetically modified crops, growing as much as 30,000 hectares, or 74,000 acres, of gene-altered corn, according to Conrad Caspari, managing director of Agra CEAS Consulting.
.
The EU has not licensed any new genetically modified products since 1998, and has at least 29 requests pending from companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer.
.
The United States, Canada and Argentina, the three biggest producers of gene-altered seeds, have complained about the moratorium to the World Trade Organization. The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain should withhold approval of genetically modified crops for at least four years while more trials are conducted, a parliamentary committee said Friday.
.
"It would be irresponsible of the government to permit the commercial growing of GM crops" without reviews of research from North America and the Britain, the Environmental Audit Committee said in a report. Existing trials of a genetically modified corn developed by a Bayer unit were "invalid," it said.
.
Peter Ainsworth, the committee chairman and a member of the opposition Conservatives, said leaked minutes from a cabinet panel suggest "a decision to open the door to the commercial growing of genetically modified crops is imminent."
.
Margaret Beckett, the secretary for environment, food and rural affairs, may announce a decision on licensing of genetically modified crops next week.
.
"No substantive ministerial announcements should be made until the government has formally responded to the issues raised in this report," Ainsworth said in a statement. A process for determining liability for damage caused by contamination from fields sown with gene-altered crops must be established before they can be cultivated, the report said.
.
The Guardian newspaper and BBC reported last month that the cabinet's subcommittee on the crops had approved the commercial cultivation in England of a corn developed by Bayer CropScience.
.
A government-sponsored survey last year found that 54 percent of those polled never want genetically modified crops grown in Britain.
.
More than 90 percent of the 36,557 respondents said genetically modified crops might damage the environment and pose health risks.
.
Only Spain among the European Union's 15 members has any sizable cultivation of genetically modified crops, growing as much as 30,000 hectares, or 74,000 acres, of gene-altered corn, according to Conrad Caspari, managing director of Agra CEAS Consulting.
.
The EU has not licensed any new genetically modified products since 1998, and has at least 29 requests pending from companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer.
.
The United States, Canada and Argentina, the three biggest producers of gene-altered seeds, have complained about the moratorium to the World Trade Organization. The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain should withhold approval of genetically modified crops for at least four years while more trials are conducted, a parliamentary committee said Friday.
.
"It would be irresponsible of the government to permit the commercial growing of GM crops" without reviews of research from North America and the Britain, the Environmental Audit Committee said in a report. Existing trials of a genetically modified corn developed by a Bayer unit were "invalid," it said.
.
Peter Ainsworth, the committee chairman and a member of the opposition Conservatives, said leaked minutes from a cabinet panel suggest "a decision to open the door to the commercial growing of genetically modified crops is imminent."
.
Margaret Beckett, the secretary for environment, food and rural affairs, may announce a decision on licensing of genetically modified crops next week.
.
"No substantive ministerial announcements should be made until the government has formally responded to the issues raised in this report," Ainsworth said in a statement. A process for determining liability for damage caused by contamination from fields sown with gene-altered crops must be established before they can be cultivated, the report said.
.
The Guardian newspaper and BBC reported last month that the cabinet's subcommittee on the crops had approved the commercial cultivation in England of a corn developed by Bayer CropScience.
.
A government-sponsored survey last year found that 54 percent of those polled never want genetically modified crops grown in Britain.
.
More than 90 percent of the 36,557 respondents said genetically modified crops might damage the environment and pose health risks.
.
Only Spain among the European Union's 15 members has any sizable cultivation of genetically modified crops, growing as much as 30,000 hectares, or 74,000 acres, of gene-altered corn, according to Conrad Caspari, managing director of Agra CEAS Consulting.
.
The EU has not licensed any new genetically modified products since 1998, and has at least 29 requests pending from companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer.
.
The United States, Canada and Argentina, the three biggest producers of gene-altered seeds, have complained about the moratorium to the World Trade Organization.
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