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	www.munlochygmvigil.org.uk SCOTLAND
	GO TO INTERNATIONAL OR EUROPE OR TO UK

Chronologically listed items on this page in descending order:

GM Oilseed Rape (OSR) Farm Scale Evaluation results mark the end of the GM OSR experiment in Scotland

Munlochy GM Vigil Press Release 21st March 2005

GM Oilseed Rape (OSR) Farm Scale Evaluation results mark the end of the GM OSR experiment in Scotland
The results, may lead some to call for further research, for further clarification, but, put simply, winter and spring sown GM OSR damage the environment.
Under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (http://www.scotland-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2004/40006--b.htm#1):
"........all public bodies and individual office holders have a statutory duty to further biodiversity in exercising their functions. This applies to the Scottish Executive itself, to all government agencies, and to local government" (Scotlands Biodiversity, its in your hands - page 48, section 5.3, The Scottish Executive, 2004)
Clearly no GM Oilseed Rape furthers biodiversity, and as such, the Scottish Executive, under its own rules, has no option but to prevent GM OSR being grown in Scotland. Furthermore results from the "global experiment "with GM crops show that:
there are no long term improved yields for GM crops,
there is no long term reduction in pesticide use with GM crops,
and there are no long term safety tests for GM foods.
What GM crops do bring are environmental damage, consumer rejection, patenting of life forms, and further intensification of agriculture.
Now is the time to draw a line.
Public funding for research should be re- directed to producing more palatable crops.
Government patronage should be withdrawn from the GM multinationals.
And imports of GM animal feed should be halted, and supermarkets should source all their animal feed supplies from non GM agriculture."
The GM silver bullet, has to put it mildly, lost its sheen, and now we must take this opportunity to work towards real long term solutions for Scottish, UK, and Global agriculture and food security.

Effects on weed and invertebrate abundance and diversity of herbicide management in genetically modified herbicide-tolerant winter-sown oilseed rape
by DA Bohan, CWH Boffey, DR Brooks, SJ Clark, AM Dewar, LG Firbank, AJ Haughton, C Hawes, MS Heard, MJ May, JL Osborne, JN Perry, P Rothery, DB Roy, RJ Scott, GR Squire, IP Woiwod and GT Champion - Proceedings of the Royal Society, B: Biological Sciences, (2005) 272, 463–474, March 2005

http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/proc_bio_content/pdf/rspb20043049.pdf - electronic appendix:http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/proc_bio_content/pdf/rspb20043049supp.pdf

GM protesters win three-year court battle - Highland News (Scotland), 14/10/2004
FOUR GM crop protesters convicted of aggravated trespass for their part in a protest at Munlochy on the Black Isle in August 2001 won their appeal at the High Court in Edinburgh last week. "GM Martyr" Donnie MacLeod from Ardersier, Catriona Spink from Gorthleck, Dan Puplett from Findhorn, and James Grigg from Auldearn, had their convictions quashed. In April last year they were found guilty by Sheriff Alexander Pollock at Dingwall Sheriff Court of aggravated trespass at Tullich Farm, near Munlochy, and fined GBP100 each. The quartet successfully claimed last week that Sheriff Alexander Pollock, who convicted them, had erred by rejecting a submission that the Crown had failed to identify in court the field in which the GM crop was planted, and in which the offences were alleged to have taken place. The field had been identified by an Ordnance Survey map grid reference, but no map had been produced during their trial. The defendants had also produced as grounds for appeal their claims that no trespass was involved; that the sowing of the GM crop was being carried out unlawfully, and that an organic farmer had the right to enjoy his possessions without undue interference under the European Human Rights Act - although these points were not proceeded with. The three appeal judges, headed by Lord Marnoch, granted the appeal, saying it was not apparent that the sheriff had consulted an Ordnance Survey map, nor was it apparent that had he done, the field on which the alleged trespass took place could clearly have been identified.
Mr MacLeod (56), an organic farmer, of Kylerona Farm, Ardersier - who in the course of the GM dispute was jailed for 21 days for refusing to give evidence against fellow protesters - said later: "The verdict of the appeal judges vindicates the stance taken at Munlochy and sends a message to the multinational GM companies that the people of the Highlands do not want or need their bully-boy tactics on GM crops."It has taken three years to clear ourselves, and we should not have been convicted in the first place."
http://www.highland-news.co.uk/article.tvt?_ticket=9NTHLXD4YGSGX4SHJNNADY7BZKLAFUUGUVSFJTOHCQTN9LLDNBATTRRIVQMAAQ48X7KACK5FURYFHONHFMTEGNKACN4FURXOHONGDMTEDWZ2X5K94E4B&_scope=Flow/Highland News/News&id=20682&ARTICLECAT=News

Western Isles ready to join as Highland GM-free zone grows - The Scotsman, 19th June 2004
WESTERN Isles councillors are set to join colleagues in Highland and Moray and declare their area a GM-free zone. Members of the islands’ environmental services committee have recommended that the authority takes the action in line with Highland Council’s decision in April to join a European network of regions free from genetically-modified produce - the first area in Scotland or England to do so. Angus Nicolson, the committee chairman, said: "We fully support the Highland Council stance and are happy to work with them in ensuring that Highlands and Islands become GM-free." Richard Durham, the chairman of Highland’s land and environment select committee, who addressed the island council’s committee in Stornoway, said: "Following on from the similar decision by Moray Council last month, we now have a significant GM-free region in the Highlands and Islands.....Cullen to Carloway, Dunnet to Duror - that’s a huge area and a great achievement, but Highland Council will continue to canvass support for its GM-free stance from the other councils in the Highlands and Islands area." The council has been at the forefront of the GM debate since a field trial was held at Munlochy in the Black Isle. The authority took a case to the Court of Session, arguing that trials should be subject to planning regulations, but it lost. In November, it adopted a policy to take steps to encourage a GM-free zone in the Highlands. Mr Durham added: "The Highland Council was propelled into the GM debate by the crop trials on the Black Isle. But the more we have engaged with the issue and the more we have learned about GM, the more areas of concern we have uncovered.....We are inviting our neighbours in the Highlands and Islands to join with us in creating a GM-free zone that covers the whole of the Highlands and Islands. It is important that we work together to be seen as a region in the eyes of Brussels....We should not be ashamed to push the environmental image of our farms and mour produce. And let's not be afraid to ask for a price premium for it. I believe we can make our GM-free status a selling point."

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=696532004

Council backs blanket ban on GM produce - The Scotsman - Fri 16th Apr 2004
HIGHLAND councillors yesterday backed a move to make the region a GM-free zone, although a ban is not legally enforceable. The council agreed to join a European network of regions free from genetically-modified produce - the first area in Scotland and England to do so - to protect the Highlands' reputation for producing pure and healthy food.
Highland has been invited, with regions in Spain, Greece and Romania, to send a representative to meet the ten members which founded the network, at a conference in Austria on 28 April. The network was set up last November and includes Wales, the only UK region to join so far.
Last night, the council's move was welcomed by Dr Eleanor Scott, a Highlands and Islands Green MSP, who urged other councils to follow suit. She criticised the Scottish Executive for not using its own powers to prevent GM crops being commercially grown in Scotland.
Jim Wallace, the Deputy First Minister, who was visiting Aviemore where the council met yesterday, said although a GM ban was not legally enforceable, the executive would give guidance to the council in setting up a voluntary exclusion zone.
The council was at the forefront of the GM debate when a field trial was held at Munlochy, in the Black Isle. The authority took a case to the Court of Session, arguing that trials should be subject to planning regulations, but lost.
In November, it adopted a policy to take steps to encourage a GM-free zone in the Highlands.
Richard Durham, who will represent the council at the Austria conference, said: "If you look at the regions represented in the network, Aquitaine, Limousin, Tuscany, Wales and others, they are all big areas and the whole body of opinion is that they want their areas to be GM-free. They are saying we don?t want any GM organisms [GMOs] in the food that we produce. This is driven by people who live in these areas and they do not want genetically-modified food. Food in the Highlands and Islands has always been seen as healthy and pure and people in the Highlands also very much feel they do not want GMOs to come into our production." He said he also wanted to see the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, Argyll and Bute and Moray joining the campaign to make the entire region GM-free.
A Caithness member, Graeme Smith, was the only councillor to object to the move. He said: "This is a gesture and I want to dissociate myself from it. The fears raised about Frankenstein foods have no credibility. The recent tests dealt only with pesticide regimes and it is naïve to think that the Highlands and Islands can be a new Garden of Eden."
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=428342004

BAYER DROP GM CHARDON LL MAIZE, THE CROP GIVEN A PROVISIONAL APPROVAL FOR COMMERCIALISATION BY THE UK GOVERNMENT AND HALF-HEARTED SUPPORT BY THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE. See the UK page for more details.

Devinder Sharma in Scotland - Highland GM battle inspires Indians - The Scotsman, 27th Mar 2004
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=352462004
ONE of the world's leading opponents of genetically modified crops has backed the campaign to keep Scotland GM-free. Devinder Sharma, an award-winning journalist, writer and researcher on food and trade policy, said campaigners in other parts of the world had been inspired by protesters in the Highlands who fought GM field trials in the Black Isle. He has also revealed that a forthcoming Bollywood film will feature a story of the cloning of humans which could help the fight against GM technology in his native India. Mr Sharma, who is at the forefront of the campaign against the introduction of GM crops to India, was in the Highlands yesterday, and visited the site at Munlochy where a vigil was set up three years ago to protest at the trialling of GM crops. This week he also held a briefing for MPs in the House of Commons. He said it was "very sad" that the Scottish Executive and the UK government had given qualified consent to the GM maize crop. "There is no benefit from GM maize to the UK, but it is an indication that the government gave in to industry pressure." However, he said: "Britain is the only country that has stood up to these issues. It is a model for the world. There was a time when it was said that the sun would never set on the British Empire ... but the empire crumbled. Today the sun does not set on the multi-national corporations, but I have a feeling that this empire will also crumble." Mr Sharma said that news of the Munlochy protest had reached campaigners in Delhi. "This was a unique model. Here were ordinary people standing up to fight this monster. This was remarkable," he said, "and that gave us inspiration that if people can come together for this here, it can happen elsewhere also." He added: "Scotland particularly needs to keep its pristine beauty for posterity. It would be foolish if Scotland gets into GM crops. You have wonderful landscapes and wonderful nature; why would you want to destroy it? It should be GM-free."
He dismissed claims that GM crops could help the hungry in the Third World: "Today we have 840 million people who go to bed hungry and the [biotech] industry says that number will rise to 1.5 billion by 2015, so therefore you need GM crops. One third of the world's hungry live in India, but they are not hungry because there is no food, but because they cannot afford food. In 2001-2, India had a recorded surplus of 65 million tons of wheat and rice." Instead of money being spent on subsidising food for poorer people, some of it had gone on research into GM crops, he said. "When you put that money to GM research you are taking it out of the mouths of people who are hungry, for research that is not wanted." Mr Sharma went on: "The Indian government has allocated $12 million (£6.6 million) for research on GM rice. If this money was diverted to feed the poor, they could have fed 12 million people for at least three years." Mr Sharma also revealed that he suggested to a leading director a storyline for a forthcoming Bollywood movie in which he will now appear. "It will be a love affair, but the story is that the boy discovers that the girl is a clone. I think it will be a very strong message."
Anthony Jackson, one of the Munlochy campaigners, said: "Devinder has a unique perspective on this issue. There has been a lot of moral blackmail that GM will feed the world, but he has presented proof that it will do anything but. To feed the world, we need the political will to lift people out of poverty."

18th March 2004 The Scottish Parliament came within a vote of blocking GM crop cultivation across the whole of theUK. The vote was 59 for the opposition Scottish National Party's motion (backed by the Greens, the Tories and the Scottish Socialist Party) calling for the approval of the GM maize Chardon LL to be blocked with only 60 against and 1 abstention. Crucially for this debate and the vote, an opposition member, rather than the Presiding Officer, was in the Chair. This debarred the opposition member from voting for the motion to block theGM crop. If the other Deputy Presiding Officer had been in the Chair, the motion would have been carried and the Executive defeated. The debate and vote have really underlined the strength of opposition to GM crops. If the Scottish Executive acquiesces in the necessary national seed listing for the UK, it will only be because by some odd chance the Presiding Officer was away and an opposition member in his place. The Executive has absolutely no mandate and also knows full well that the overwhelming majority of the Scottish people are completely opposed to the growing of GM crops.

The Munlochy GM Vigil thanks all those who wrote to Members of the Scottish Parliament to tell them of their concerns over GM crops. E-mails and letters flooded in and MSPs had never seen anything like it. But they may have to get used to it because this is just the start of our campaign to make sure that GM crops are never ever grown commercially in Scotland or anywhere else in the UK.

For the GM Debate in the Scottish Parliament http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/plenary/or-04/sor0318-02.htm#Col6769 and for the vote at Decision Time go to http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/plenary/or-04/sor0318-02.htm#6909

In the last debate of 29th May 2002 the decision was:for 62, Against 55, Abstentions 3 (see http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/S1/official_report/session-02/sor0529-02.htm#Col12315).

"...................Scots are uneasy about GM crops and there is little support for their early commercialisation, so we will take action to protect the interests of Scottish consumers and to ensure consumer choice. We believe that a statutory co-existence measure should exist to prevent cross-contamination. Compensation that is funded by the GM industry will be provided for any cross-contamination that occurs in Scotland. In areas where GM maize could be grown, we wish to establish GM-free zones..................................I believe that almost all members of the Parliament are sceptical about GM crops. I am sceptical about GM crops. That scepticism is why we insisted on putting in place the regime that I described, why we take the precautionary approach and why we ensured that the two crops that showed harm to the environment were rejected. We will continue to take that sceptical stance not only in our debates and decisions in Scotland, but in our discussions at the UK level, in which we will push that case, and at the European level............................"

(Jack McConnell, First Minister, in reply to questions in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, 11th March 2004 - in the Official Report ,columns 6568-6589, http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/plenary/or-04/sor0311-02.htm)

AFTER A YEAR OF SITTING ON ITS HANDS THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE HAS JOINED THE UK POLICY CHORUS ON TUESDAY 9TH MARCH 2004 WITH ITS Cautious approach to GM crops in Scotland, see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2004/03/SEEN817.aspx and the UK page

Fury as Executive 'buckles' under GM pressure - The Scotsman, 10th March 2004 http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=276632004

THEY LACK BACKBONE AND THIS IS NOTHING LESS THAN A WIMP OUT - MSP blasts Executive `cave-in' over GM crops - The Daily Record, 10th March 2004 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/content_objectid=14033647_method=full_siteid=89488_headline=-THEY%2DLACK%2DBACKBONE%2DAND%2DTHIS%2DIS%2DNOTHING%2DLESS%2DTHAN%2DA%2DWIMP%2DOUT-name_page.html

MSPs to consult farmers over GM crops - Scotland Today, 9th March 2004
http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.colo.ednet.co.uk/content/defaulttext.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=2963
"MSPs say they will consult with farmers about setting up voluntary GM free zones in Scotland after the Westminster government gave the go-ahead for growing genetically modified maize. But opposition parties are accusing the Executive of caving in, instead of using its powers to block the crops altogether."

The Cartegna Biosafety Protocol came into force as an international agreement on the 11th September, 2003. A new campaign has been launched - Bite Back: WTO hands off our food! For more on this go to Things to Do

West Lothian Council voted to declare itself a GM Free Zone on 9th December, 2003. It proposes to use Article 19, 2001/18 EC

The contact there is Cllr Martyn Day: Martyn.Day@westlothian.gov.uk - 01506 777283

COUNCILLORS DIG IN AGAINST ANY GM CROPS IN HIGHLANDS
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk
Press & Journal - 7 November 2003 - Angus MacDonald
Highland Council's land and environment committee has set its face against any growing of GM crops in the Highlands. The committee decided to advise the council to take steps to make the Highlands a GM-free zone. The council will also be asked to open discussions with another 10 regions throughout Europe which are investigating the possibility of establishing GM-free zones with legal backing.
Farmers and crofters, as well as neighbouring local authorities, will be asked to support the action and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (Seerad) will be asked to establish robust rules on co-existence to ensure that no GM contamination comes into the area from other areas of Britain which might want to grow GM crops.
Councillor Basil Dunlop said that, in the light of the results from GM crop trials, the signal from the public was clear. "The public are right to be concerned. The only positive note that came from the trials that some maize encouraged biodiversity also revealed that it used a herbicide that is due to come off the market. The EU has said that there is a general right to grow GM crops, and that makes a nonsense of Commissioner Franz Fischler's encouragement of farmers and others to refrain from growing GM crops on a voluntary basis. The only safe way forward is to ban GM crops."
Councillor Liz Macdonald pointed out that Upper Austria was appealing against a decision which prevents them declaring their region a GM-free zone. "They are trying to set up a network of GM-free regions across the EU and the Highlands should consider becoming part of this," she said.
Council vice-convener Michael Foxley said: "I am a firm believer in the council providing leadership on these issues. In future, if they want to carry out GM trials they should take place somewhere like the Isle of Wight where they might be able to contain them. The trials carried out in Munlochy in the Black Isle were not scientific, they were a complete joke. A whole range of variables were not observed such as what was happening in the soil. SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) supported the trial because they thought it would have a positive effect on biodiversity. Now that it's proved it didn't, they should speak out against GM crops. If they are concerned about black-throated divers as part of the Highland biodiversity, they should definitely be concerned about GM crops." He added: "There are a lot of initiatives throughout the Highlands to grow and market locally-produced food of high quality from a natural environment. If the rest of the UK and Europe want to follow what is an American initiative that is up to them. We should send out the message that we want to promote the Highlands and Islands as a natural clean environment, and that the area should be a GM-free zone."

The Public Debate

SEE Reports AS WELL AS www.gmnation.org.uk

The Public Debate on gm crops ( see www.gmpublicdebate.org.uk ) has just been launched in Scotland - on Wednesday 11th June in Glasgow (it was launchedUK wide in Birmingham on Tuesday 3rd June). Although this has been low key so far it is a chance for the public to air their views and is an opportunity that shouldn't be missed. The Munlochy GM Vigil encourages people to post their views on the Public Debate web site ( and go to to www.gmnation.org.uk and fill in the form ) and take part in any events that may be organised in your immediate local area.

THE GLASGOW DEBATE, 11/6/03:

The debate was full at 150! Good mix of participants, by age, sex, knowledge of GM and background. A straw-poll at the end showed:

- GM crops should be grown in UK: 4 (inc GM trial farmer + wife) - Unsure: 3 - GM crops should not be grown in UK: 143.

A series of events will take place across the Highlands to enable people to take part in the National Debate on GM crops.

As many people as possible are being encouraged to voice their opinions. Events are being held at:

Ullapool: 20th June, The Ceilidh Place (from 6.30pm) Tain: 30th June, Duthac Centre (from 7.30pm) Inverness: 1st July, Charleston Academy, 7pm. Charleston Academy, 7pm. Nairn: 2nd July, Nairn Academy, 7pm. Forres: 3rd July, Forres Academy, 7.30pm. Ardersier: 4th July, Macleod Organics (from 7pm) Munlochy: 8th July, Munlochy Village Hall (from 7pm). Isle of Skye: 15th July, Breakish Hall, 8pm

Although there has been some concern expressed about how the Government will take on board the findings from "GM Nation" it is clear that the more people that take part, the more the Government will listen. The results will also be noted by those who will have to make commercial decisions about GM crops and food, including farmers, biotech companies and supermarkets. If people are unable to attend any of the events, views can still be expressed on the GM Nation website: www.gmnation.org.uk Further information from: Anthony Jackson (07720 817 847) Sarah Allen (Highland Council; 01463 724338) further details of all regional debates available on GM Nation? website: www.gmnation.org.uk

From: THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE - 25 July 2003 EXECUTIVE TAKES FURTHER PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES ON GM TRIALS The Scottish Executive has taken steps to ensure that farmers who have planted oil seed rape as part of the GM Farm Scale Trials have been advised not to plant conventional oil seed rape this year. This precautionary action follows preliminary findings of Government commissioned research which shows that seeds from both conventional and GM oil seed rape crops persist in the soil longer than previously thought. These steps are designed to ensure that GM oil seed rape does not accidentally enter the supply chain and will reduce the potential for commercial consequences to the farmers. The precautionary measure has been agreed between the Executive, Defra and their independent scientific advisors, the Advisory Committee on Releases
to the Environment (ACRE). ACRE - the government's independent GM crops advisory body - have not raised any environmental or human health concerns.

Deputy Environment Minister Allan Wilson said: "Throughout the conduct of these farm scale trials we have been entirely clear that our first priority is to protect public health and the environment. There continues to be no risk to either. "This action is aimed at preventing GM material from trial crops turning up in any subsequent conventional crop and will enable farmers to eradicate any remaining GM plants with herbicide. "Farmers taking part in these tests are under a legal obligation to prevent any GM material whether planted or adventitious from entering the supply chain. Those involved in the trials have been reminded of these requirements. We will continue to monitor and review the position in order to ensure that these obligations are met. "These research findings will be taken into account in our evaluation of the farm scale trials which will in turn inform future policy on the commercialisation of GM in Scotland. We will ensure that there are opportunities for peer review of this research and of the trials and to allow others, including environmental organisations, to comment on them. "No further trials or commercial planting will be permitted until this process has been completed."

Normal patterns of crop rotation mean that some farmers who planted rape three years ago, as the trial farmers did, might now be looking to plant it again. Instead, the farmers are being encouraged to use other conventional crops to facilitate the eradication of any persistent GM plants. There are no similar concerns with the other GM crops being trialled in the UK - maize seed cannot survive over winter in the UK and beet crops are prevented from setting seed.

The first set of FSE results is to be published by the Royal Society in September. Following this, ACRE are to hold an open meeting for stakeholders at which they will be able to comment on the findings.

The precautionary action taken is based on preliminary results from government commissioned research projects into the potential for oil seed rape volunteers. It suggests that oil seed rape seeds (both GM and conventional) persist in greater quantities in the ground than had previously been found. The research will be made public as soon as it has been finalised and peer reviewed later in the summer.

Go to the Scottish Executive website: www.scotland.gov.uk

May Election 2003

Party Policies:

Green Party - highly critical of GM crops and food.

Scottish Socialist Party - highly critical of GM crops and food.

Scottish Nationalist Party - proven track record throughout the last parliamentary period of 1999 -2003 that they are highly critical of GM crops and food.

Labour Party - committed to taking the precautionary approach but have allowed the open air growing of GM crops in the wider environment.

Liberal-Democratic Party - the party is split over GM crops and food although whilst part of the Scottish Executive they allowed the growing of GM crops in the wider environment with the minister responsible for the environment being a Liberal-Democrat.

Conservative Party - worked constructively with all other parties in the Scottish Parliament on the Munlochy Petition, especially within the committees, whilst the party's policy remains ultra-precautionary.

Post election the Munlochy GM Vigil will continue to work with the Scottish Parliament and continue to challenge the Scottish Executive of whatever political party complexion if necessary (see Things To Do).

ELECTION RESULTS IN SCOTLAND, May 2003

Labour 50 (-6), Liberal-Democrats 17 (+0), Scottish National Party 27 (-8), Conservative 18 (+0), Green Party 7 (+6), Scottish Socialist Party 6 (+5), Independents 4 (+3).

Obvious benefits for the Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party but also for an independent caucus within the Scottish Parliament.

The formation of another Labour-Lib-Dem coalition with a smaller majority reduced by 6 bodes well. If the Tories follow their previous policies set by John Scott and Mary Scanlon, the Scottish Executive could be in far greater difficulties holding its previous line.

The Highland Council website ran a Genetically Modified Crop Trials Forum until October 2003, see http://forums.highland.gov.uk/GMForum

April 2003

Protesters fined for damaging GM oilseed rape – Scotsman – 18/4/03

Fines for protesters who disrupted GM crops trial – Press and Journal – 18/4/03

North East farmer is unfit to keep her guns – Press and Journal – 28/4/03

March 2003

GM protesters test trespass law in Scottish court – Scotsman – 6/3/03

Crop protesters are convicted of trespass / Highland presses EC: we want to be GM free / Making Highland a by word for quality (editorial) – Press and Journal – 7/3/03

GM activists are guilty of trespass – Herald – 7/3/03

Arrogant ministers dismiss GM report – Daily Mail – 12/3/03

Outrage as Executive scorns GM crops plea / Executive’s stance is not surprising (editorial) – Press and Journal – 12/3/03

Finnie says GM report is flawed / GM farmer wanted 24 hour protection – Scotsman – 12/3/03

Ministers reject report into GM food trials – Daily Telegraph – 12/3/03

Ministers reject report on GM crops – Herald – 12/3/03

GM five make legal history – Ross-shire Journal – 13/3/03

GM court ruling row (Right to roam is under threat claims lawyer) – Highland News – 15/3/03

Voters urged to make GM crops an election issue – Inverness Courier – 21/3/03

GM trial verdicts – Press and Journal – 21/3/03

Insects thrive on GM pest killing crops – Independent on Sunday – 30/3/03

Ministers reject report into GM food trials - The Daily Telegraph, 12/03/2003 - http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news
Scottish ministers were last night accused of "unbelievable smugness and arrogance" when they rejected a Holyrood report which claimed that tests on genetically modified crops could have put the public at risk. Ross Finnie, the Environment Minister, took the unprecedented step of dismissing an investigation into GM crops by the Scottish Parliament's health committee. Mr Finnie criticised MSPs on the committee for ignoring scientific advice in the report, which expressed concern over the health effects of GM trials on oil seed rape in Munlochy on the Black Isle, Newport-on-Tay, Fife, and Invergowrie, near Dundee.
The Scottish Executive's response to the report into the three-year trials was the first time the work of a parliamentary committee has been categorically rejected by ministers. The Executive said the report was "fundamentally flawed" and there was no "substantive evidence" to question the trials' safety. MSPs were criticised for relying on evidence produced by those with little knowledge of GM technology and ignoring research suggesting that GM crops pose no greater risk than non-GM varieties. "The views of the committee members are clearly at odds with the evidence of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Executive's independent scientific advisers. It would be irresponsible of ministers and the Executive to ignore the knowledge and expertise of expert advisory bodies," said Mr Finnie. But members of the health committee, who published the report after an anti-GM crop petition was lodged at parliament by environmental campaigners, were angered by his comments. In their report, MSPs voiced concern over monitoring procedures and urged the Executive to examine the effects on human health near trial areas. The committee suggested that tests carried out on the trials were more concerned with proving the safety of GM crops than assessing hazards. Mary Scanlon, the Scottish Tory health spokesman and committee member, said the Executive's position threatened Holyrood's committee system. "This is a staggering situation," she said. "The minister is acting with unbelievable smugness and arrogance. He has also called into question the committee system in the Scottish Parliament, which was always hailed as one of its great strengths."

12 March 2003 - SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE LIED ABOUT BMA
Today's rejection by the Scottish Executive of the report on GM crop trials by the Health Committee of the Scottish Parliament (see below) needs to be set in context. In mid-January the members of the Health Committee issued a highly critical report on GM crop safety. The all-party Committeehad  considered evidence from a range of experts, including the government's advisory committees on GM food and crops, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the British Medical Association and Dr Arpad Pusztai. Dr Charles Saunders, who had given evidence on behalf of the BMA during the parliamentary inquiry, warmly welcomed the report. The BMA's own submission had been unequivocal. Warning of "possibly irreversible environmental risk" and "as yet unquantified public health implications", it called for much more research before GMOs are "permitted to be freely cultivated." But from the moment it was published the report was under attack. On the very day the Scottish report was due to hit the media, the Royal Society (of London) just happened to publish some Monsanto-funded research on GM crops, which it hyped by way of press release to the hills. The effect was that south of the border, the Scottish report was largely displaced from the headlines by news that research had shown that GM crops could help skylarks and other endangered birds to flourish - a truly remarkable finding given that the research in question hadn't even looked at birds!
Another flurry of GM news stories soon broke. BBC reports stated that the BMA, whose Board of Science had published its original position statement on GM in 1999, would be reconsidering its position and undertaking a further report. The very same day an article appeared in The Independent headlined, "Scientists blame media and fraud for fall in public trust". The article, reflecting the views of the Royal Society, and an accompanying editorial, categorised Arapd Pusztai's research as "fraud" and claimed it had not been peer-reviewed. All of these stories hit the headlines in the fortnight following the report and one does not have to be a cynic to perceive a clear line of news management: to bury the report and destroy the credibility of those experts that the committee found most persuasive. The attacks on Pusztai were straight fabrication. In a press release responding to the BBC's reports about the BMA's supposed change of heart, Dr Vivienne Nathanson, Head of BMA Science and Ethics, said "Today's BBC reports stating why the BMA would be undertaking a future report of GM crops and food is wrong." Their review was routine, said the BMA, and there would not necessarily even be a further report. They also described specific claims in the BBC report as "totally incorrect" and "wrong".
Today the Scottish Executive finds it inconceivable that the Health Committee could have preferred the evidence of Dr Pusztai and the BMA to that of the government's advisors and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. And it not only repeats information from media reports that the BMA rejected - it goes one better. According to the Executive's statement, "The British Medical Association (BMA) has recently acknowledged that there has been a 'lot more science' since their position statement on GM was published in 1999." But this phrase  - a 'lot more science' - not only occurs in the BBC reports that the BMA rejected as "wrong" but EVEN IN THOSE REPORTS THIS PHRASE WAS NEVER ATTRIBUTED TO THE BMA. "Sir Peter Lachman, a professor immunology at Cambridge University, said there had been "a lot more science" since the report was published and a review was needed." - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2711801.stm Sir Peter Lachman, as the Executive could not fail to know, has long been an outspoken critic of the BMA and has been at the centre of controversy over GM for many years. http://ngin.tripod.com/rs.htm
When the Executive in order to sustain its position as evidence-based engages in what is clearly disinformation intended to unfairly undermine the British Medical Association's position, what are we to conclude? Scotland's Environment Minister, Ross Finnie has always maintained that he has to be guided by the official advisory committees like ACRE. He is therefore forced to defend them to save himself, and it is revealing that ACRE are even quoted in this press release in what was clearly a coordinated response, as if they were part of the ruling executive. In 1998 when Monsanto asked Stanley Greenberg to analyse its situation in Britain, he found public acceptance of its genetically modified foods across all social groups falling dramatically, but paradoxically support amongst the political elite was found to be increasing. Those interviewed included upper-level civil servants, including chief scientists, and MPs.  When asked whether the introduction of GM foods should be allowed or stopped in Britain, this group became quite articulate about "the future of biotechnology".
But, just as with the need for the war on Iraq, they are failing to persuade the rest of us that they have the evidence to support their case. According to an editorial in the Aberdeen Press and Journal, the views of the Health Committee who open mindedly listened to all sides are very different. "Their views are every bit as acerbic as those of the most cynical environmentalist and the most worried layman, which creates the broadest spectrum of opposition to crop trials yet seen in Scotland."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=127

Executive rejects report on GM crop trials - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2003/03/SEhd352.aspx - 11/03/2003
The Executive today published a substantive response to the Health and Community Care Committee's (HCCC) report on GM Crop Trials, rejecting all the recommendations. The response details the 'shortcomings' of the HCCC report; the failure by the Committee to take proper account of the weight of scientific evidence presented during the inquiry, and the rigour of the existing regulations.  Ross Finnie, Minister for the Environment and Rural Development, said:  "The views of the Committee members are clearly at odds with the evidence of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Executive's independent scientific advisers. It would be irresponsible of Ministers and the Executive to ignore the knowledge and expertise of expert advisory bodies." "I am concerned and extremely disappointed that the Committee has ignored the volume of evidence recording confidence in the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment's approach to risk assessment and the quality of scientific advice it offers Ministers." "In particular I support ACRE's case by case approach to considering the risks and benefits associated with the release of GMOs. This approach enables factors such as the variety of GMOs involved and the proposed location and scale of release to be taken into account." Deputy Health Minister Mary Mulligan said: "This is a very detailed response from the Executive and it makes clear that the Committee's report, which is critical of aspects of the management of the Farm Scale Evaluations of GM Crops, is not supported by the available evidence...It represents what, in fact, the Committee acknowledged - its inability "to deliberate definitively on the complex scientific questions that GM crop trials raise or adjudicate on competing interpretations of scientific evidence...The available scientific evidence supports the view that the Farm Scale Evaluation programme is well-founded, well-regulated and designed to increase our knowledge about GM crops, while taking proportionate measures to protect public health."
A spokesman for the Advisory Committee on release to the Environment (ACRE), which advises Scottish Ministers on the regulation of the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment, said: "ACRE's view remains that the risk assessment of the release of GMOs is careful, thorough and scientifically sound, and is in accordance with the criteria set out in the relevant Directive 2001/18."
The Health and Community Care Committee Report on GM Crop Trials was published on January 14, 2003. The British Medical Association (BMA) has recently acknowledged that there has been a 'lot more science' since their position statement on GM was published in 1999. On January 31 the BMA indicated plans to convene a round table meeting later this year of scientists with knowledge of the developments in research and other evidence.

GM licensing gets go ahead - Scots and Welsh furious as crop trials are sidelined - http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,907026,00.html
Tuesday March 4, 2003 - The Guardian
Government plans to press ahead with licensing commercial use of genetically modified crops, before the results of trials are known and a public debate on the issue has been held, yesterday angered both the Scottish executive and the Welsh assembly. Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, has decided that 18 applications to the EU for growing and importing crops such as GM maize, oil seed rape, sugar beet and cotton are unstoppable and the British government has no alternative but to process them. In the past few weeks Bayer has applied directly to Mrs Beckett to plant and market GM oil seed rape, and Monsanto has applied to import GM maize. This led to a protest from the Scottish executive, which says scientific evidence from the crop trials is not yet available and therefore cannot be taken into account. The public debate on the issue is due to begin in May and conclude in September. Ross Finnie, the Scottish environment minister, has made a personal protest to Mrs Beckett and demanded the licensing process be halted.
A week ago Mrs Beckett doubled to GBP500,000 the funding of the government-spon sored debate on the introduction of GM crops to Britain and extended it from June to September. This had been requested by Malcolm Grant, chairman of the committee organising the debate, and the Scottish and Welsh administrations, which have elections in May and wanted to debate the issue afterwards. The government promised to take full account of the views thrown up by the public debate and the evidence from the crop trials before any commercial planting took place. The trials are to discover whether GM crops affect the environment and the number of weeds and insects surviving on farmland. A spokesman for the Scottish executive said: "It would be premature, and in our view improper, to grant licences to grow crops before the public's views were known. What is the point of the debate otherwise? We think Mrs Beckett has misinterpreted the situation, and it is quite possible to postpone decisions."
The executive is discussing the issue with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and trying to reach a common position to take to Brussels which would let the UK postpone any decisions until after the debate. Sue Mayer, of the lobby group Genewatch, who is also a member of the agriculture and environment biotechnology commission set up to consider the issue, said: "It is premature, not to say outrageous, to carry on the licensing of GM crops before either the scientific evidence has been gathered or the public consulted. It makes the whole exercise seem pointless." The Welsh also believe that granting applications before the debate would be premature. In a statement last night a spokeswoman for the Welsh assembly said they were negotiating with Defra on the issue.
A second complication in the government plans also emerged yesterday. The results of three years of farm scale trials which should have been released in June, in time for the debate, will probably not be known until afterwards. In a letter to Professor Grant, the Royal Society said that as a result of its lengthy peer review process the results might not be available until after the end of September. Yesterday a spokesman for Defra confirmed that licensing would take place without considering the outcome of the public debate. "It is a debate not a referendum." As far as scientific evidence was concerned, it was possible for the government to revoke or amend licences if new evidence emerged on either public health or environmental damage, he added.

February 2003

Debate descends into farce – Sunday Herald – 2/2/03

GM food debate could be pointless – Press and Journal – 3/2/03

Row over minister’s appearance at GM crops trial – Press and Journal – 8/2/03

GM activists fail to get minister to attend court – Press and Journal – 15/2/03

Meacher at odds with PM over GM crops / Doubts still linger over benefits of GM crops (editorial) – Press and Journal – 17/2/03

Government minister is unlikely ally for GM critics – Press and Journal - 18/2/03

GM farmer denies gun threat to BBC – Scotsman – 18/2/03

Report backs GM crop farmer’s gun rights battle – Press and Journal – 19/2/03

MSP says police chief over reacted by revoking farmer’s gun licence – Scotsman – 19/2/03

GM crop farmer warned police that media would not be safe on land – Scotsman – 20/2/03

More time for public say on GM crops – Guardian – 20/2/03

Farmer told officer media not safe near farm court hears – Press and Journal – 20/2/03

Protesters welcome news of national GM trials debate – Press and Journal – 28/2/03 

January 2003

GM ruling – Press and Journal – 9/1/03

MSPs seek new rules on GM crop trials – Times – 15/1/03

Bid to halt GM trials – Daily Record – 15/1/03

SNP say GM trials must end – Daily Mirror – 15/1/03

Cavalier approach to GM crop safety is condemned (Official report finds not enough being done to protect human health) / Sowing seeds of unknown danger (editorial) – Daily Mail – 15/1/03

Health risk fears spark call for moratorium on GM crop trials – Scotsman – 15/1/03

Ministers mishandled GM tests – Herald - 15/1/03

Caution urged in giving go ahead to GM crop trials / Alarming risks of GM trialling (editorial) – Press and Journal – 15/1/03

GM crops are helping to save the skylark – Daily Telegraph – 15/1/03

Scientists grow bird friendly sugar beet – Guardian – 15/1/03

Threatened species of birds could gain from GM crops – Financial Times – 15/1/03

GM crop protest case dismissed – Ross-shire Journal – 16/1/03

New report cited by GM campaigners – Inverness Courier – 17/1/03

Protesters welcome GM crops findings – Press and Journal – 18/1/03

Sowing the seeds of dispute – Press and Journal – 27/1/03

CAUTION URGED IN GIVING GO-AHEAD TO GM CROP TRIALS - Press & Journal - 15 January 2003
The Executive has been urged to be more cautious in approving GM crop tests in Scotland. And ministers have been told more work needs to be done to assess the impact of such trials on the people living near to them.  A parliamentary committee accused the Executive yesterday of flouting the "precautionary principle" by allowing GM crop trials to continue. The health committee is not satisfied that risk assessment in the trials is robust enough for the principle - ensuring that potential harm does not outweigh possible benefits - to be applied. In its report, issued yesterday, on the impact of the farm-scale trials on public health, the committee finds the assessment process is "flawed" and urges the Executive to show greater caution when approving the tests. It also calls for more investigation into what could happen if genetically-modified crops entered the food chain and for more rigorous monitoring of health in communities close to trial sites. The Executive now has eight weeks in which to respond to the report but there will not be enough time for it to be the subject of a parliamentary debate before Parliament is dissolved at the end of March, prior to May's election. However, an Executive spokesman said there was no question of the report being shelved and added: "The Scottish Executive will consider the conclusions of the health and community care committee's report in detail and respond fully in due course."
Crop trials, which have so far solely involved oilseed rape, have been authorised at nine sites in Scotland, including Munlochy on the Black Isle, Invergowrie near Dundee, and Daviot, Udny, Tillycorthie and Rothienorman, all in Aberdeenshire. A long-running protesters' vigil has been held at the Munlochy site while approval for the Invergowrie site was given to the Scottish Crop Research Institute.
One of the anti-GM campaigners, Anthony Jackson, submitted to Parliament a petition which inspired the health committee's inquiry. The petition, which sought an immediate end to the farm-scale trials and a debate on the future handling of GM crops, was initially scrutinised by MSPs on the environment committee but they referred it on after Environment Minister Ross Finnie refused to accede to their call for the Munlochy trial to be halted.  Shirley Harrison, the farmer on whose land the Daviot trials have been conducted, has said she believes the results of the tests will shape the future of agriculture. However, the health committee's report expresses grave misgivings about the manner in which the trials have been handled by the Executive. It believes a number of questions remain unanswered, including how regulations protect public health from any risks posed by GM organisms; what effect public consultation would have on public health protection measures; and what role would be played by the Health and Safety Executive, the Food Standards Agency and the Advisory Committee on Release into the Environment (Acre) in implementing new measures, introduced last year, aimed at safeguarding health and the environment.
The report also states that, for the precautionary principle to have been met by the Executive, the current risk assessment procedure would have to be "sufficiently robust to adequately assess all potential hazards to human health". However, the committee is not convinced this has happened. The committee believes health-risk assessment of the trials does not appear to follow a standard format. It sets out to prove the safety of GMOs rather than properly assess potential hazards and places too much emphasis on "model assumptions" rather than hard scientific assessment. Concern is expressed by the committee that "even pro-trial organisations seem to accept the inevitability of GM contamination" and it recommends that all GM crops considered for trials should be tested "as if they were entering the food chain, even if they were not intended to be so used". The report adds: "The arguments being applied to counter the argument that GM crops may be hazardous to health - that no empirical evidence of harm has so far emerged - are similar to those applied in the past concerning other public concerns, where evidence of hazards to public health has subsequently emerged."  Committee convener Margaret Smith said: "While we acknowledge that we are not qualified to deliberate definitively on the complex scientific questions that are raised, we have heard enough evidence to come to the view that the Executive's approach has not been sufficiently robust."
Mr Jackson said the Munlochy vigil was renewing its call for an immediate moratorium on the trials. He said: "Until the major issues raised in the health committee report have been addressed, GM crops should not be grown in the open environment." Kevin Stewart, of Grampian Against GM, also believed the trials should stop immediately but added: "This evidence, I would argue, isn't particularly new. It has been gathered at the University of Jena in Germany and also in Canada...It's just the fact that the committee itself is finally realising the concerns the public have and have at last come up with the report, which should have been done before the farm-scale trials took place."
The British Medical Association Scotland welcomed the findings of the report. Dr Charles Saunders, chairman of the BMA's Scottish committee for public health, medicine and community health, gave evidence during the parliamentary committee's inquiry. He said: "I am delighted that the committee, having listened to both sides of the debate, are supportive of the BMA's view that we do not know the potential risk GM crops pose to human health."

ALARMING RISKS OF GM TRIALLING - Press & Journal, editorial - 15 January 2003 - http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/
It has taken more than two years, but at last MSPs have voiced formal concerns about the safety of GM crops. Their views are every bit as acerbic as those of the most cynical environmentalist and the most worried layman, which creates the broadest spectrum of opposition to crop trials yet seen in Scotland.
The MSPs' attitude matches that of protesters and commentators: that the risks appear to have been played down and the questionable advantages played up as the corporations behind the technology, mostly American, play for high stakes and even higher profits.  The bottom line on GM crop trials remains unchanged: the onus should not be on sceptics to prove that these are dangerous, but on biotechnology companies and their acolytes to prove that field trials are safe beyond reasonable doubt.
On that basis, the companies will need to show far greater proof than they have cared to provide thus far, as well as accepting much less margin for human error. It is still well remembered that GM seeds were "accidentally" planted on at least one Scottish farm despite express instructions that this was forbidden.
MSPs are worried that risk-assessment and monitoring procedures on Scottish trial farms are seriously lacking. They will find plenty of public support in that.
Even the layman, lacking scientific expertise, knows that windborne pollen travels far farther than the safety margins of present trials, rendering these margins worthless.
It might well be that GM crops offer crop productivity and relief from famine of a kind that has existed so far only in dreams.
Equally, it could be a shabby strategy to develop lucrative patents and stellar profits for a few US corporations, which would then hold other countries to ransom.
Until that is clarified, there is no reason to gamble with Scottish public health for the sake of cheering a boardroom in Missouri.

14 January 2003 - IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON GM CROPS CALL IN SCOTLAND - Press release
The Munlochy GM vigil is calling for an immediate moratorium on the growing of GM crops following the damning report published by the health committee of the Scottish Parliament today (available on the Scottish Parliament website). Anthony Jackson of the Vigil states: "Until the major issues raised in the health committee report have been addressed, GM crops should not be grown in the open environment. The report, with complete cross-party consensus, states that the risk assessment procedure upon which the safety of crops is supposedly based is flawed. "The report also most damningly declares that the Executive has not, and is not, following the precautionary principle by allowing GM crop trials to proceed. The Executive has continually stated that they only allow trials to proceed on the basis of the precautionary principle and now must take on board the finding of this full and independent enquiry and put in place a moratorium on GM crops in the open environment...The Health committee could not find sufficient evidence to equivocally state that GM crops or food are safe in terms of human health. Without evidence that there is no harm to human health from GM crops or food it is encumbent upon government to make sure that GM crops are not grown openly or GM foods enter the food chain."

December 2002

Legal point stalls Black Isle GM protest trial – Press and Journal – 5/12/02

GM farmer is unable to say he had a go ahead – Press and Journal – 6/12/02

Protesters’ court claim GM planting was illegal – Press and Journal – 7/12/02

GM expert warns of cancer risk from crops – Sunday Herald – 8/12/02

Cancer risk in GM foods warns top Scots doctor – Press and Journal – 9/12/02

GM protest trial told how campaigner climbed onto tractor roof – Press and Journal – 10/12/02

Brazil’s farm minister supports gene modified crops – Financial Times – 17/12/02

Fears over super weed as GM crops interbreed / Important to take heed of GM warnings (editorial) – Press and Journal – 30/12/02

Genes from GM crops found to be breeding with other plants – Herald – 30/12/02

Survey confirms GM crops contaminate other plants – Scotsman – 30/12/02

November 2002

Fines for Black Isle GM crop raid five – Highland News – 2/11/02

Finnie bans crop trials after fears over GM food – Scotland on Sunday – 3/11/02

Protesters greet move to ban GM crop trials – Press and Journal – 4/11/02

GM crop survey is limited says expert – Press and Journal – 12/11/02

Anti-GM duo seek answers at parliament / GM crop protesters take case to Holyrood – Press and Journal – 13/11/02

Disease warning over GM crop trials – Scotsman – 14/11/02

GM crop trials like Blue Peter job – Herald – 14/11/02

Munlochy petition prompts GM inquiry – Ross-shire Journal – 14/11/02

Crop trials must stop say doctors / Black Isle GM protest is a long term commitment / Fresh questions over BSE and GM crops (editorial) – Scotsman – 19/11/02

Stop GM trials say doctors – Daily Mail – 20/11/02

Scots GM farm trials should stop say doctors – Press and Journal – 20/11/02

BMA report leads to call for halt on GM crop trials – Scotsman – 20/11/02

GM doctors accused over food trials – Press and Journal – 21/11/02

Doctors slated over call to halt GM crops – Scotsman – 21/11/02

MSPs warned on crop trials – Herald – 21/11/02

GM trials legislation claim denied – Press and Journal – 26/11/02

Health chief in GM storm – Scotsman – 28/11/02

Executive is condemned for GM crop trials stance – Press and Journal – 28/11/02

Review of GM strategy will ignore field trials – Guardian – 29/11/02

GM crop study dropped from review – Scotsman – 30/11/02

Crop trials must stop, say doctors - The Scotsman - Tuesday 19 November, 2002 - http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=1284692002
SENIOR doctors have demanded an immediate halt to genetically modified crop trials in a move that piles pressure on the Scottish Executive to reconsider its controversial backing for the programme. The British Medical Association (BMA) has warned that insufficient care is being taken to protect public health and that there has been a lack of public consultation about crop trials despite the steady increase in the number of them. The demand that there should be a moratorium on any further planting of GM crops on a commercial basis is made in a submission to the Scottish parliament's health committee. The BMA's warning about the dangers of continuing with trials will be seen by anti-GM crop campaigners as giving powerful weight to their argument that the issue must now be reconsidered by Ross Finnie, the environment minister.
Robin Harper, the Scottish Green Party MSP, said last night: "I am delighted that the BMA have been prepared to take the same line that we have been pursuing for some time. It is a very welcome position and one that must lead to the trials being halted."
The BMA originally set out its case against the further planting of commercially produced GM crops in 1999, but its latest attack is made with the benefit of more information. It will be made tomorrow to the health committee, which is conducting an inquiry into GM crops. The BMA points out that the number of crop trials has increased steadily, without public consultation, since their introduction in the early 1990s. Trials are being held at 178 sites in the UK, 17 are in Scotland. The BMA was asked by the health committee if it believed the Executive should prevent GM crop trials from continuing on the grounds that the policy is against "the precautionary principle to allow them to continue". The BMA responded: "Yes. As with scientific matters, it can be difficult and timeconsuming to demonstrate safety to an acceptable standard. Safety is a relative matter and is generally based on the results of a robust and thorough search for possible harm...There has not yet been a robust and thorough search into the potentially harmful effects of GM foodstuffs on human health. On the basis of the precautionary principle, farm-scale trials should not be allowed to continue." The BMA, which will be represented at the committee hearing by Dr Charles Saunders, a specialist in public health issues, will point out to the MSPs that, following public health disasters such as BSE and foot and mouth disease, public confidence in the scientific communityâo·s approach to agriculture has been undermined. It adds: "Scientists, farmers and politicians need to re-establish public trust. Further research is required into the health and environmental effects of GMOs before they can be permitted to be freely cultivated...This may be executed in such a way as not to expose the population to possibly irreversible environmental risk, which may, in turn, have as yet unquantified public health implications."
The BMA refers in its document to worries about the issue of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance "markers" help identify GM plants and there is evidence that these genes may be transferred to non-GM plants and "possibly into pathogenic organisms causing human disease", it warns. Underlining the responsibility of the parliament and the Executive to protect the nation's health, the BMA says it is disappointed that, to date, the Executive has decided not to include health monitoring of local populations as part of the farm-scale evaluation programme.
In March 2000, four farms, three in Aberdeenshire and one near Munlochy in the Black Isle, were given the go-ahead to plant GM winter oilseed rape. Almost immediately a protest group sprung up in the Black Isle and a 24-hour vigil was established near farmer Jamie Grants land. Since then 17 sites in Scotland have been involved in the three-year research programme. Some protesters have been more direct and the GM crops have been damaged by activists in Munlochy and Fife. In all 28 people have been charged since the trials were approved and one man, Donnie MacLeod, an organic farmer from Ardersier, spent ten days in jail for refusing to identify others taking part in a protest. A Scottish Executive spokesman said the crop experiments currently taking place were final trials under a two-year evaluation scheme. The Executive had already adopted the "precautionary" approach as Mr Finnie had allowed the trials go ahead only after scientific evidence suggested there was no threat to health or the environment.

SCOTLAND TO BAN GM CROP TRIALS - Finnie bans crop trials after fears over GM food - Scotland on Sunday - 3 November 2002
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1223572002
GM CROP trials are to be banned in Scotland next year amid growing public concern at the risks posed by so-called Frankenstein foods. Scotland on Sunday can reveal that rural development minister Ross Finnie intends to reject any further applications from biotech companies for trials for at least a year while the Executive examines the effects of existing trials which end next summer. The moratorium, which would put Scotland at odds with England, where trials