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Government 'To Back GM Crops'
The Guardian - UK
9-21-3


(Press Association) -- The Government plans to back EU rules which would give the green light to the commercial growing of genetically modified crops, according to reports.
 
A leaked exchange of ministerial letters demonstrated that ministers will support Brussels moves to ban GM-free zones and allow the "co-existence" of GM with conventional crops.
 
The correspondence, detailed in The Sunday Times, comes ahead of the publication next month of the long-awaited results of GM crop trials in Britain.
 
A September 5 letter from Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett to Cabinet colleagues indicated that she will support EU proposals at a meeting of EU agriculture ministers at the end of the month.
 
She wrote: "I am proposing that we broadly support the (European) Commission's guidelines as providing a reasonable basis to address the issue."
 
She attached a summary of the EU rules, which state that "no form of agriculture (conventional, organic, GM) should be excluded from the EU."
 
The letter adds: "Co-existence measures should be developed and implemented by member states because farming patterns across the EU are so diverse."
 
In reply, Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt stated: "I agree that our interests are best served by giving broad support to the Commission guidelines. We must also bear in mind the potential impact (on) EU-US relations."
 
A five-year moratorium by the EU on GM crops, which expires this year, has resulted in friction between the EU and US, where GM technology has been pioneered.
 
A Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman declined to comment on the leaked correspondence.
 
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2003, All Rights Reserved. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,1271,-3172019,00.html

 

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