Defra’s GM Inspectorate (GMI) has announced that unlicensed genetically modified (GM) seeds, imported into the UK as part of a batch from France and planted in trial plots earlier this year, have been identified and destroyed.

After the inspectorate was notified that oilseed rape seeds imported into the UK could have become contaminated with GM seeds from an unlicensed GM crop variety, tests confirmed the presence of GM material and the company has recalled and destroyed the affected seeds and plants.

The seed has been sown in small plots at several sites in England and Scotland, mostly as part of conventional trials for official registration of new plant varieties.

Defra said it was obliged to make public the discovery. The company involved is understood to be investigating where the contamination occurred.

A Defra spokesperson assured that there is no risk of cross-pollination. The spokespersons said, “There is no risk to adjacent crops or the wider environment as plants that have grown from the affected seed would not flower until next spring.”