London, United Kingdom
February 27, 2007
Defra gave approval in
December for the company BASF to undertake research trials of a
GM potato at two sites in England, one in Cambridgeshire and the
other in Derbyshire.BASF has now
notified Defra that, instead of the previously intended site in
Derbyshire, it proposes to conduct trials at a new location in
Yorkshire.
Defra will be considering this as a new
application in accordance with the Genetically Modified
Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations 2002. But before
deciding on this it will consider any representations that
people may wish to make about the risk of environmental damage
posed by the GM trial. The deadline for representations is 20
April 2007. The new location is in the District of East
Yorkshire, at ordnance survey grid reference TA1729.
The Advisory Committee on Releases to
the Environment (ACRE) has made an initial assessment of this
proposed change in location. It has provisionally concluded that
it does not affect its earlier opinion, that the trials do not
raise any safety concerns for human health and the environment.
BACKGROUND
1. Details of the proposed new trial
site and an invitation to make public representations will be
posted on the Defra website at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/regulation/applications/index.htm.
2. The original consent granted to BASF
for the GM potato trials
(ref: 06/R42/01), and ACRE's advice on
the original BASF application, is available at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/regulation/consents/index.htm.
3. As required by Defra, BASF will be
informing the relevant local authority in Yorkshire about the
proposed GM trial in its area. BASF has placed an advert in the
Times today to highlight the new trial location and to indicate
that representations can be made to Defra.
(The grid reference published in the
Times today was incorrect, (this referred to TL1729 instead of
the correct TA1729), BASF will be placing an amended advert
highlighting correct site details in the Times tomorrow.
4. The GM potato has been developed by
BASF for resistance to late potato blight, a significant disease
problem for potato growers which they normally combat by using
chemical fungicides. The trials will test the effectiveness of
the potato's resistance against UK strains of the disease.
Similar trials are already underway in Sweden, Germany and the
Netherlands.
5. The existing consent that Defra has
issued to BASF specifies appropriate conditions to ensure that
no GM potato material enters the food or animal feed. |
