Anti-GM campaign groups in the UK have today filed an official complaint over a lack of transparency on communications between the government and companies that develop genetically modified crops;  campaign group Genewatch claimed on Tuesday that Defra officials have sought to "keep [the] public in the dark over GM industry influence on policy and media strategy."

A report released last month by a panel of scientific advisors recommended that the UK government roll out GM crops and work within the EU to scrap regulations which are currently holding back approvals for the crops. However, critics questioned the Independent report's findings; Claire Robinson, editor at GM Watch, argued that "all [authors] have vested interests in the acceptance of GM crops by the public and policymakers. Their views should be treated with the same scepticism we would apply to any sales pitch."

In Britain, 15 percent of agricultural research funding currently goes towards GM. Some sceptic groups have argued that a disproportionate amount of attention is paid to GM crops and associated technologies, as these will reward investors with proprietary technology. Funding for agroecology – a school of agriculture that food policy experts claim has the potential to improve food security, productivity and the environment – accounts for one percent of the UK's agricultural research budget. Last year, a group of sustainable food experts met in Parliament to call for fundamental change in the research industry, to ensure that R&D is set up to benefit farmers and farming communities, delivering solutions to real problems for the public good.   

On Tuesday, following a 12 month struggle to obtain documents dealing with contact between government ministers and lobbyists from the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC), sceptic group GeneWatch made an official complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The group said documents on the Government's policy and media strategy on genetically modified (GM) crops and foods had been redacted or were unaccounted for.

Dr Helen Wallace, Director of GeneWatch UK said, "The public have a right to know what is going on behind closed doors."

The documents, including meeting minutes and email conversations, also include material referred to "as discussed" in an email exchange between Defra and a GM manufacturer in February 2013, regarding lobbying supermarkets on their policies on animal feed, in the lead up to the April 2013 decision by Tesco, Marks and Spencer, the Co-op and Sainsbury to go back on pledges to avoid GM-free feed for chickens and eggs supplying their own brand ranges.

The issue of GM is returning to prominence, as proposals are passing through the EU's legislating bodies to renationalise cultivation of GM crops. Under the proposals, which are supported by the UK government, if a crop were deemed safe by the EU's scientific advisors, individual member states would then decide whether or not to allow cultivation on their territory.