Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (FoE) is calling for an immediate halt to the outdoor testing of GM crops following the revelation yesterday [Thursday] that the Aventis GM oilseed rape used in the controversial farmscale trials was contaminated with another GM variety.

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With the last of the farm scale trials due to be planted next week, FoE supports the call from the government’s advisors ACRE (Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment) for a delay. 


Before planting, the FoE says that the government must:


*Carry out a full investigation and put measures in place to ensure it does not happen again
*Guarantee that winter oilseed rape seeds are not contaminated – all testing results should be published
*Fully review their GM Inspectorate


GM campaigner Adrian Bebb: “This is yet another biotech blunder from the GM industry. How can we trust them to produce our food if they cannot even run a GM test site. This is the latest in a number of GM incidents involving Aventis.  It is clear that they are incompetent and should not be allowed to experiment with our countryside or our food any more.

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“The government must listen to its own advisors and pull the plug on the proposed winter trials until they know how this contamination took place. It beggars belief that their own Inspectorate visited Aventis in April but did not uncover this contamination. If Aventis has breached its consent then the government should use the full force of the law.”


The maximum fines for breaching a GM consent are five years imprisonment or unlimited fines.