Greens counter Government's emphasis on benefits of GM food

The Green Party has accused the Government of highlighting the benefits of biotechnology and genetically modified (GM) foods while giving token attention to protection of consumer interests.

In response to a position document on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the environment issued recently by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, the Green Party issued a paper on "the dangers of genetic engineering for Ireland" yesterday.

It is part of a consultation process due to be completed soon by the Minister before an EU overhaul of GMO policy and labelling of GM foods.

Ms Nuala Ahern MEP said Mr Dempsey's paper was "long on the benefits of biotech and very short on protection of the consumer".

This contrasted with the stance of other EU states and consumer organisations which had become alarmed by "unprecedented tampering with food and dangers to the environment".

The European Commission had failed this week to overturn GM food bans in Austria and Luxembourg because citizens there "do not want to be force-fed genetically engineered food".

France, she added, had declared a two-year ban on commercial cultivation of certain GM crops where they had a risk of crossing with other species.

Proper labelling of foods tied into segregation of modified and unmodified produce at source was critical, said the party's environment spokeswoman, Ms Mary White.

Under current arrangements as much as 90 per cent of GM foods could escape labelling, she claimed.

The party said it should be mandatory to label all products containing GMOs, or GMO-derived products.

This would rule out use of the unsatisfactory "may contain" term, it said.

Its submission says the Government appears to accept many of the dangers of genetic engineering.

"However, it also attempts to mollify these concerns by hiding behind various pieces of faulty legislation which they themselves have supported in Europe and put in place in Ireland, while ignoring the mounting body of scientific evidence to support these concerns," it adds.

Food and agriculture production - both nationally and globally - had reached a watershed, according to the Greens' spokesman on agriculture, Mr Trevor Sargent.

"The choice is between further intensification of agriculture or working with nature, while the public must be given the choice between genetically-altered food or food which has not been tampered with."

The Government should resist moves towards a "fast-track" system to allow GM crops on to the EU market instead of ignoring mounting evidence showing the detrimental effects of genetically-altered food, the paper says.

Risk assessment of GM crops and monitoring of pesticide residues are inadequate, it contends.

Given independent German research showing the extent to which genetic material may be transmitted across species barriers, the Government "must declare what procedure it is adopting for the detection and prevention of live organisms and living fragments of DNA", which may be transferred to traditional, non-modified species.