The campaign group Genetic Concern has called on the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure full transparency with new trials to test genetically modified crops in Ireland proposed by the US biotechnology company Monsanto, writes Kevin O'Sullivan.
The request follows notification by Monsanto that it plans to increase from one to 10 the number of sites for trials on sugar beet modified to be resistant to the herbicide, Roundup, the biggest-selling weedkiller in Ireland, which is produced by the company.
Monsanto attempted to secure confidentiality on trial sites last year but the EPA disallowed the request. According to a Genetic Concern spokesman, Mr Quentin Gargan, the issue of confidentiality has been raised again. He said full details should be made public, including information on the "plasmid map" and other aspects of the biological process used, so that a full evaluation could be made by those concerned about the technology.
"While it is understandable that a company would wish to protect its experiments from protesters, providing immunity from protest is not the function or duty of the EPA," Mr Gargan said in a letter to the agency.