At its meeting on Wednesday 14 September, South Gloucestershire Council agreed to our request to sign the FOE-sponsored petition in favour of a GM-Free Europe; it is one of the first of a growing number of local authorities to sign. The petition was launched in January this year by a coalition of organisations from 20 European countries. It calls for local authorities to be given the legal and democratic right to decide whether or not GM crops can be grown in their area. It will be presented by FOE to the European Commission at the end of 2005.

The reason for the petition is that decisions about whether GM crops should be grown in the UK are being taken in Europe right now, but the communities where crops could be grown have no right to be involved. Instead, GM approvals are being forced through by the unelected European Commission, usually with the support of the UK Government.

But this is a good time to try to change the law, because co-existence between GM and non-GM crops is currently a high profile issue in Europe, and many member states are drawing up national legislation. The new Agriculture Commissioner has said that there is a need for EU-wide standards, which will require new EU-wide measures. This provides a unique opportunity to get legal backing for GM-free areas into European law. A petition from local authorities will be extremely influential in this situation.

The potential dangers presented by GM crops have not disappeared - far from it! In June this year Monsanto itself disclosed that its GM maize had been shown to have major negative effects on the health of rats. Do you remember poor Professor Pusztai, who was hounded from his post several years ago for publishing research showing exactly the same results? He has now been vindicated. And, in July this year the Governments own researchers revealed that superweeds had been created as a result of the GM field-scale trials. But has the Government seen the error of its ways??

The last two paragraphs of the petition read as follows:

We, the undersigned, believe that in order to protect our local economy, culture, environment, and the health of our citizens, EU law must include the democratic right of local and regional governments to decide whether GM crops can be cultivated in their area. We also believe that there should be no EU-wide approvals for the cultivation of GMOs until these matters are resolved, and that there should be strict labelling regulations for any presence of GMOs in conventional and organic seeds at the practical detection limit.

South Gloucestershire FOE applauds the decision taken by our local Council to sign this petition. If you agree, write to tell your local Councillor!

Tony Harding