Guardian, UK


Legal maze 

Geoffrey Gibbs on how Wales could stop commercial GM crops in the
UK before they get off the ground 

Wednesday March 15, 2000 

As the  government  prepares  this  week  to  unveil  details  of
proposed  farmscale  trials  of  three  GM  crops  across the UK,
pressure is mounting on the Labour  administration  in  Wales  to
strike  a  first  blow in the campaign to turn the country into a
GM-free zone.  The move could put the devolved administration  in
conflict  with  Westminster  and  poses  a tricky dilemma for the
Welsh agriculture secretary, Christine Gwyther, who may be damned
from Downing Street if she does and will be damned  in  Wales  if
she doesn't.  

At  the  heart  of  the  issue  is  an application by the biotech
company, Aventis,  for its T25 forage maize to be included on the
UK  national seed list.  Approval is the final regulatory barrier
to be crossed  before  seeds  can  be  grown  commercially.   And
although   the  biotech  industry  has  agreed  a  moratorium  on
commercial growing until farm-scale trials  have  been  completed
and  assessed in 2003,  campaigners believe it is vital to take a
stand and block the application now.  

They claim that Wales, where feelings against GM trials run high,
has an effective veto because the application has to be  approved
jointly  by  ministers in England,  Scotland,  Wales and Northern
Ireland.  

The decision rests in the hands of Gwyther,  who  less  than  six
months  ago  was  censured  by opposition members of the national
assembly over her handling of the crisis  affecting  the  farming
industry in Wales.  

Members of the assembly's agriculture and rural affairs committee
-  on  which  Labour  is  in  a  minority  -  have been given the
opportunity to debate the matter and offer advice because of what
the agriculture secretary  has  acknowledged  is  the  widespread
public  interest  in  GM  issues.   Gwyther  herself  is known to
believe that Wales would  benefit  from  being  able  to  present
itself  to  the  world as a GM-free area.  But she has warned the
committee that her decision has to be made on a lawful basis.  

Although initial legal advice from  the  office  of  the  counsel
general  suggested there were no legal grounds on which to refuse
the Aventis application, Gwyther has agreed to defer her decision
until the agriculture committee has had the opportunity to  study
legal  submissions  from  Friends of the Earth,  which challenges
that opinion.  The committee, which has signalled that it favours
blocking  the  application,   is  also  keen  to  study   further
scientific papers and will meet again at the end of this month to
deliver its advice.  

Gwyther  is  not  bound to accept the committee's recommendation,
but overriding it is certain to stir up a storm of  protest  both
within the assembly and without.  

"The reaction would be very hostile,"  says Gordon James, head of
campaigns for Friends of the Earth Cymru.   "It  would  fuel  the
feeling  that  the  assembly is simply rubber stamping what Blair
wants.  There would be extreme concern and anger that  the  voice
of  the elected representatives of Wales is not being listened to
and that we are caving into Westminster." 

According to Gwyther, T25 maize, which was targeted by protesters
during trials in England last summer, has already received health
and environmental clearances and has completed trials showing  it
meets the criteria of suitability for agricultural cultivation.  

But  FoE  Cymru  claims the risk assessment processes under which
the GM  maize  gained  approval  two  years  ago  are  no  longer
considered  adequate  either  by  the  UK goverment or by the EU.
"This maize is intended for cattle, yet there have been no safety
assessments for animals eating GM feed,"  says the organisation's
GM campaigner, Raoul Bhambral.  "It's shocking that we don't seem
to have learned from the last animal feed scare." 

The  group  has  sought to add weight to its campaign in Wales by
taking independent legal advice, which, it argues,  confirms that
the  national  assembly  has the power to refuse consent for a GM
crop if it is unable to conclude with confidence  that  the  crop
would  not  harm  human health or the environment and provided it
remains prepared to consider representations to the contrary.   A
spokesman  for  the  agriculture  secretary confirmed it would be
considered carefully,  in conjunction with other  advice,  before
Gwyther makes her decision.  

Whichever way that goes,  she can expect to face flak and a legal
challenge from the disappointed parties.  As she  has  discovered
since  being  propelled  into  the  cabinet  by  the former first
secretary, Alun Michael, the position of agriculture secretary is
one of the hottest political potatoes around.