24/02/2011

NFU Policy Director Martin Haworth has claimed that the European Commission’s decision to relax rules on the accepted percentage of GMO contamination in imported feed does not go far enough.

The EU’s Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) agreed yesterday to allow up to 0.1 percent of non-EU approved GM in feed imports. The decision was reached after industry lobbying from across the EU, with groups such as the NFU and Fefac (European Feed Manufacturer’s Federation) claiming concessions would go some way towards alleviating the pressure of animal feed costs. However, the Policy Director has expressed fears that the long-awaited change may not have enough impact on the ground, where farmers are currently facing rising feed costs.

In a statement made yesterday, Martin Haworth said “As GM acreages increase globally, and new varieties come onto the market, there needs to be a pragmatic and workable system in place to deal with the traces of unintended GM material found in globally-traded bulk commodities such as soybeans and maize. Unless we find an effective solution to this issue we risk making the whole of the European livestock industry uncompetitive over time.”

Howarth’s gusto for GM is not universal

However, even this small increase in percentage of biotech contamination in feed has sparked controversy. The EC’s decision has been criticised by many GM detractors, with GM Freeze’s Pete Riley questioning the legality of the proposal and pointing out that the European public are still widely mistrustful of biotech crops.

Mr Howarth’s statement came on the same day that a researcher from Purdue University, Indiana warned US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that an “electron microscopic pathogen” found in high concentrations of GM crops could significantly impact the health of both animals and humans.

Professor Emeritus Don M. Huber claims to have linked certain GM crops to an organism leading to miscarriages and spontaneous abortions in farm animals. In his letter to Vislak, Prof. Huber said, “For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats... based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high risk status.”

Huber has requested that the USDA undertake an investigation of the pathogen.