News that Northern Ireland will follow Scotland in banning GM crops under new EU rules has been welcomed by the SNP. Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister, Mark Durkan, has taken the decision to ban the cultivation of GM crops citing the need to protect the environment and Northern Ireland’s green reputation.

This follows the decision last week of France and last month of Germany, to use the same EU rules to ban GM crops. The Scottish Government took the decision in August to restate its precautionary approach to the cultivation of GM crops in Scotland to protect Scotland’s clean, green status.

Roundup may cause potentially fatal 'adrenal insufficiency'

GMWatch & The Ecologist

A new study finds that the Roundup herbicide disrupts the hormonal system of rats at low levels at which it's meant to produce no adverse effects. By the same mechanism It may be causing the potentially fatal condition of 'adrenal insufficiency' in humans.

GM crop ban

Downloads 09/08/2015 00:01

Scotland Agriculture

Scotland to protect clean, green status and prohibit GM crops.

Growing genetically modified (GM) crops will not be permitted in Scotland, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced as he moved to protect Scotland’s clean, green status.

Mr Lochhead has confirmed that the Scottish Government intends to take advantage of new EU rules allowing countries to opt out of growing EU-authorised GM crops.

The Scottish Government will shortly submit a request that Scotland is excluded from any European consents for the cultivation of GM crops, including the variety of genetically modified maize already approved and six other GM crops that are awaiting authorisation.

The Cabinet Secretary said:

“Scotland is known around the world for our beautiful natural environment - and banning growing genetically modified crops will protect and further enhance our clean, green status.

“There is no evidence of significant demand for GM products by Scottish consumers and I am concerned that allowing GM crops to be grown in Scotland would damage our clean and green brand, thereby gambling with the future of our £14 billion food and drink sector.

“Scottish food and drink is valued at home and abroad for its natural, high quality which often attracts a premium price, and I have heard directly from food and drink producers in other countries that are ditching GM because of a consumer backlash.

“That is why I strongly support the continued application of the precautionary principle in relation to GM crops and intend to take full advantage of the flexibility allowed under these new EU rules to ban GM crops from being grown in Scotland.

The Soil Association is calling for a UK ban on the use of Glyphosate sprayed on UK wheat as a pre-harvest weedkiller and its use to kill the crop to ripen it faster. New figures analysed by the Soil Association from government data were released at a scientific briefing in London on July 15 2015. This revealed Glyphosate use in UK farming has increased by 400 per cent in the last 20 years and it’s one of the three pesticides regularly found in routine testing of British bread - appearing in up to 30 per cent of samples tested by the Defra committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF).

WORLDWIDE – On May 23, 2015, hundreds of thousands of concerned individuals will gather across 38 countries and 428 cities to join in peaceful protest against the Monsanto Company as a part of the March Against Monsanto grassroots campaign. This movement seeks to raise awareness to the dangers surrounding Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds and cancer-linked herbicide Roundup.

The campaign comes as the demand for GMO labeling and non-GMO food alternatives continues its exponential climb, with states like Vermont enacting mandatory GM labeling legislation that will require food corporations to let consumers know if their products contain GM ingredients.

In polls conducted by the New York Times, Washington Post, Consumer Reports, and many others, over 90% of respondents were in support of national GMO labeling – an initiative that has been defeated time and time again at the state level thanks to heavy spending by Monsanto-backed lobbying groups.

Commenting on the news that Domino's is selling GM pizza bases, and Waitrose has started stocking GM Hershey's bars GM Freeze Director Liz O'Neill said:

Imported American sweets are bad enough but if Domino’s are making GM pizza bases here in the UK then they really are out of step with their customers. People in the UK have demonstrated time and again that they don’t want to eat GM food and the Food Standards Agency’s public attitudes survey recently showed concern about GM at an all-time high. Whether motivated by concern for declining wildlife and flourishing superweeds, wider ethical issues, safety or personal preference, we have a right to make an informed choice and the conflicting statements on the Domino’s website currently make that virtually impossible.

Katharine Hamnett has spent the morning handing out fliers that read: ''London Fields Caution Danger Unacceptable Risk of Biohazard''. Last week she discovered that the local wild-flower meadow had been sprayed with Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide.

"I've been giving leaflets out to women with babies because I was so concerned," she says, attacking a plate of pad Thai. "I thought they were young single mums. Then I looked at their clothes and thought, 'F---. Nothing but Isabel Marant. A touch of Chloé, a bit of Saint Laurent.' And I realised they were City lawyers taking their baby breaks. Which is even better, because they can help me out with the legal stuff."

The trial will test whether GM Camelina sativa plants are able to make significant quantities of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) in the seed of the plant under field conditions

After nearly two decades of research and some controversy, Scotts Miracle-Gro in Marysville is preparing to test a genetically modified grass seed in the family lawns of a small number of employees this growing season.

The UK Government has confirmed that it will support Monsanto in a European court case brought by European civil society groups. In a written Parliamentary Answer today, Earl Howe stated that the Government will intervene in the European Court of Justice to support the biotechnology giant, which wishes to import a GMO soy variety called Intacta into the EU for food and feed uses.