| LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday
unauthorised GM sugar beet had been grown by accident on experimental
sites by biotech company Aventis , already at the centre of a public row
over genetically modified crops.
In what could be another blow to the government's GM trial programme,
the department of the environment said it had been notified that tiny
amounts (0.5 percent) of the unauthorised sugar beet had been found on two
sites. ``Aventis informed the government after discovering a background
level of a second, unauthorised, herbicide tolerant GM beet line as part
of the routine destruction of the crops,'' the department said in a
statement.
``The company used this batch of GM seed at 10 small trial sites in
England this spring. Only two of the sites showed evidence of the
unauthorised seed.''
It said the trials, which were not part of a wider GM crop testing
programme, had finished.
The sites had been cleared and the crop had not been allowed to flower,
to stop pollen from contaminating nearby crops.
The Agriculture Ministry said the European Commission was working on
interim measures to stop the accidental presence of GM seed in
conventional seeds.
Britain is currently testing GM crops such as maize at sites across
England in an attempt to convince a doubting public that gene-modified
grains are safe. But the trials have come under fire from environmental
groups and members of the public.
The environment department said it had been advised the latest incident
posed no threat to human health or the environment. It added that
scientists would investigate the case.
Aventis has come under fire over its move to add a GM maize seed to the
UK's National List for marketing.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth has used a little-known law to
force Aventis into an unprecedented public hearing, which could last for
10 weeks.
In what was seen as an earlier blow to the government's trial programme,
a jury late last month cleared 28 members of Greenpeace of causing
criminal damage when they wrecked a crop of GM maize in eastern England. |