How will conventional and organic farming be protected from GM contamination?
We have published a consultation paper on proposals for managing the coexistence of GM and non-GM crops, should approved GM varieties be grown here commercially in the future. The proposals aim to minimise any unwanted GM presence in non-GM crops as far as possible, below the relevant 0.9% EU labelling threshold. In particular, farmers growing GM crops will be expected to observe statutory separation distances to limit potential GM cross-pollination. This will provide a pragmatic basis for distinguishing between GM, conventional and organic production. The deadline for responding to the Defra consultation paper was 20 October 2006. We will publish a summary of the responses and in due course indicate how we intend to proceed having weighed up all the comments.
