| Congratulations are due for a successful campaign in Ireland that led to the withdrawal of BASF's proposed trials of GM potatoes.
The potatoes have been engineered to be resistant to blight. But according to a poll by the Irish Times, 72% of the public are against the growing of GM crops in Ireland. A nationwide opposition campaign involving more than 100 food and farming groups, expressed their resistance both in the media and in written objections to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the application for approval of the GM potato was considered.
On the 9th May, the county council of Meath, where the trials were planned, declared Meath to be a GM-Free Zone, which effectively prevented the trials taking place. Later, the EPA granted BASF provisional approval for the trials, but put certain conditions, including obligations for BASF to prevent cross-contamination of neighbouring farms and wildlife, and to pay for monitoring of health and environmental impacts.
BASF felt unable to comply with these conditions, and decided to pull out of the experiment. They evidently felt extremely resentful about this, judging from comments by the head of BASF, Hans Kast, who also chairs Europa-Bio (a pro-GM lobby group in Europe). In a bitter outburst, Kast declared that countries that do not want to grow GM should leave the European Union. Kast obviously feels that individual countries should not be granted the sovereignty to make their own decisions regarding GM acceptance, or be allowed to demand that biotech companies take responsibility for any harm they may cause.
Now 172 regions and provinces within the EU have declared themselves GM-Free.
The successful GM-Free Ireland campaign can serve as an inspiring example to other countries and campaigns who face the challenges of imminent biotech approvals.
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1. 'Ming' Slams 'Deafening' IFA Silence on GM Trials
Article from Roscommon Herald, Ireland. Date: 17 May 2006
2. Organic Trust Welcomes the Decision of Meath County Council to Declare Meath a GM-Free Zone!
Press Release from Organic Trust. Date: 17 May 2006
3. From "Food Island" to "Fool's Island": Government Shows Utter Contempt for Consumers, Taxpayers and Farmers
Press Release from IFARM. Date: 15 May 2006
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1. 'Ming' Slams 'Deafening' IFA Silence on GM Trials
Article from Roscommon Herald, Ireland. Date: 17 May 2006
The silence from the IFA over the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to grant permission for GM potato trials in Co Meath has been described as ‘deafening’ by a Castlerea independent councillor.
This week Cllr Luke 'Ming' Flanagan described the decision as "one of the most significant in Irish farming history", but it did not even warrant a mention on the IFA website. "This does not come as a surprise to me but it runs contrary to the views of Roscommon members of the IFA, if a meeting which took place on March 1st in the Abbey Hotel, is anything to go by. This meeting involved the showing of a documentary on GM foods. After the documentary was shown a discussion ensued on the topic. Members of the farming community spoke about their opposition to such technology. To put it simply there was not a dissenting voice in the room. Among those who spoke against the planting of GM crops in Ireland were local members of the IFA," he said.
"The EPA has now made its decision and we have silence from the IFA. If the IFA do not wish to represent the views of their members then they might as well not exist," said the councillor.
"The decision which was taken by the EPA is bad for Irish Farming. This decision goes against the opinions of 80% of the citizens of the European Union. The public, in opinions polls, have consistently made it clear that they do not want these foods. Up until now we could market our food to these people on the basis that it was produced in a GM free environment. This valuable marketing tool will now be denied to us in return for nothing.
"It is a continuation of our participation in a race to the bottom in food production.
"Ireland does not have a future in cheap mass produced patented food. Its future is in top quality food at the high end of the value chain. When the value of our food starts to drop in comparison with that of countries who have decided to remain GM free we will then hear the IFA complaining about how farmers in Ireland are not getting a fair price for their food. Well when that day comes I hope that both the farmers and consumers of this country remember whose inaction got us into the fix in the first place. Now is the time for the IFA to do something about it. It is time for them to be proactive rather than reactive.
"If not then it is time for farmers to ask some serious questions about who they mandate to represent their views," concluded Cllr Flanagan.
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2. Organic Trust Welcomes the Decision of Meath County Council to Declare Meath a GM-Free Zone!
Press Release from Organic Trust. Date: 17 May 2006
The Organic Trust welcomes Meath County Council's decision to declare Meath a GM Free zone. This decision - coupled with their referral of the proposed field trials of the BASF GM potatoes to An Bord Pleanala - is encouraging to people and organisations like the Organic Trust who are fighting the onslaught from the biotech giants on an ongoing basis.
The Organic Trust is disappointed that the points raised in their extensive submission to the EPA (forwarded on 20.02.2006) outlining in detail their objections to the proposed trials have fallen on deaf ears. Helen Scully from the Organic Trust stated "To date we have received no detailed response from the EPA regarding the points raised in the formal objection to these trials lodged by the Organic Trust Limited. In our submission we set out in explicit terms our concerns if the proposed trials were given the go-ahead, however, it would appear that our concerns were not considered of sufficient substance to warrant the EPA denying permission for such trials to take place in Ireland. The Organic Trust fully recognises the very limited remit of the EPA in terms of the areas of concern on which they are permitted to base their decisions and sympathises with the EPA in this regard (perhaps as a secondary issue this is something which needs to be seriously addressed!), nonetheless their decision to approve these trials does represent very worrying short-term thinking - what does not appear to have been taken on board is that we DO NOT want and do not need GM in Ireland . In addition, the decision-making mechanisms in the EPA currently appear as undemocratic and authoritarian with no room to consider in detail the reasoned objections put forward by the Organic Trust".
"The Organic Trust will continue to fight for transparency in the decision making processes of the EPA and will continue to oppose the testing of this untried, unwanted technology" she stated. "GM food poses as great a threat to the future of organic production in Ireland as Avian Flu poses for poultry production or Foot and Mouth posed for meat in the past - the major difference being the GM menace could be stopped completely and immediately if we simply have the courage of our convictions and stand up to the biotech giants". The Organic Trust calls on the Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan to "step up and stop these trials now; once such GM releases take place in the Irish countryside, the damage to the image of Ireland as a wholesome, untainted environment for food production will be shattered forever and the consequences for Irish food producers are potentially disastrous."
Notes to Editors:
1) The Organic Trust Limited is an Irish approved organic inspection and certification organisation and operates on a 32 county basis; the Organic Trust are also approved by the EU and by DEFRA (UK) as an organic inspection and certification agency.
2) The Organic Trust Limited certifies the full remit of organic foods - from on-farm production of organic raw materials such as organic meat, poultry, tillage and horticultural products to a vast range of processed organically certified foodstuffs and other products.
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3. From "Food Island" to "Fool's Island": Government Shows Utter Contempt for Consumers, Taxpayers and Farmers
Press Release from IFARM. Date: 15 May 2006
John Heney of IFARM - the Irish farm and rural movement - has accused the Government of treating Irish consumers, taxpayers and farmers like fools by choosing to completely ignore the content of a high profile policy document on the future of farming which it launched recently.
Responding to the Governments "deafening silence" on the EPA's decision to OK the growing of GM potatoes in Co Meath, Mr Heney pointed out that it is barely two months since the Government launched their much-heralded Agrivision 2015 Action Plan to save Irish farming.
In this long-awaited document the Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan proudly declared that the future of Irish farming lay in "delivering high quality nutritious food - to well informed consumers". However, in what amounts to a cynical U turn, the Government has decided to pander to the interests of big business and totally ignore the wishes of these same "well informed consumers", 80% of whom consistently say they do not want GM food on their plates.
Mr Heney went on to say "It is becoming obvious that the Agrivision 2015 Action Plan along with all of the others plans before it, is little more than a very expensive smokescreen put in place to appease an increasingly concerned public. These plans, which have been prepared at huge cost to the taxpayers, are simply an effort to hide the reality of the accelerating decline in farming and rural areas. It is painfully clear that when there is a choice to be made between rural Ireland and the interests and wishes of multinational companies, the government will always choose the multinational's 30 pieces of silver"
Rural Ireland has suffered enough deceit and hypocrisy over the years and certainly has no need for enemies if this is what our current government sees as its vision for the future of farming in Ireland, concluded Mr Heney.
ENDS.
For further information contact: John Heney at 085 103 9950
www.irishfarmandruralmovement.com
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