UK SEEKS GMO DEBATE BUT SAFETY STILL PARAMOUNT
06.20.08 - Leído 23 veces. Enviar esta notaNigel Hunt
Genetically modified crops could offer benefits but safety remains paramount, Britain’s farm ministry said on Thursday, responding to media reports that the global food crisis may prompt it to relax restrictions
LONDON, UK; June 20, 2008.- A report in the Independent newspaper said goverment ministers were preparing to open the way for GMO crops to be grown in Britain to help tackle rocketing food prices and shortages in the world’s poorest countries.
The report quoted Phil Woolas, the minister responsible for GMOs, as saying there was a “growing question of whether GM crops can help the developing world out of the current food crisis.”
A ministry statement said it had always been government policy that GMO crops could offer a range of benefits over the longer-term but “as Phil Woolas has reiterated, we have always said that safety is our top priority.”
“Phil Woolas has set out the government’s existing policy highlighting the need for continuing discussions to take place. This does not signal a change in policy,” the ministry said.
There has been significant opposition to GMO crops in Britain with concerns centred on both food safety and possible environmental impacts.
Rising food prices has, however, led to renewed debate.
Britain’s chief scientific adviser John Beddington said earlier this year that GMO crops should not be shunned, adding it “seems to me to be insanity to throw away potential solutions” while adding it was vital to assess and potential harm to the environment.
The ministry said GMO technology was not wholly good or bad and GMO crops should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
“GM crops could offer potential benefits over the longer term including drought tolerance, improved nutritional qualities, less chemical spraying, improved yields and the government is keeping an open mind on this issue,” it said.
(Reuters)
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