Crop
While the GM industry is very keen to get GM crops into the UK, it absolutely refuses to take any responsibility for any possible harm they could cause to organic and conventional farmers or the environment.
GM companies claim their products are safe; yet they won't accept liability for any contamination or environmental damage that may occur. The government has failed to introduce any laws requiring GM companies to take responsibility.
Because GM crops pose a series of unique risks, they are unlike any other form of pollution. Although we still know very little about the long-term risks of releasing them into the environment, we do know that as living, self-replicating organisms GM crops will be impossible to contain or clear up.
There are 3 types of harm that could arise from GM crops:
1. Environmental damage
If the government approves a GM crop and damage is caused unexpectedly, society will have to pay the cost of putting things right. GM companies or GM farmers do not have to pay a penny. Is this fair?
Given that we know environmental damage from growing GM crops in the UK will be inevitable, shouldn't GM companies be liable? There are some important questions on liability that the Government must answer before they decide on whether to allow GM commercialisation, but which they seem unwilling to do:
- How do you assess what "environmental damage" actually is?
- How do you quantify this?
- Is it possible to put a price tag on irreversible environmental damage?
- How do you repay the public?
Greenpeace believes the genetic contamination of wild relatives of some of the GM crops being tested in the is irreversible environmental damage. As it is impossible to quantify or effectively "clean up" environmental damage from GM crops, releasing them is unacceptable.
2. Economic damage
Organic products are not allowed to have any levels of GM in them, and normal food is only allowed a very small amount (0.9%). If GM crops are grown, organic and conventional crops could be contaminated, meaning that farmers might not be able to sell their products. Is this fair? At the moment, if this were to happen the affected farmer would not be able to claim compensation. In contrast, if a GM farmer found that a crop did not grow properly, they would be able to claim compensation through their contract with the GM company.
3. Damage to health
What happens if in the future people become sick from eating GM foods? Should GM companies pay? Under the Consumer Protection Act they can do, but being able to prove that a specific GM food caused harm will be almost impossible. In addition, GM companies could argue that they followed all UK laws in place when the GM crop was grown and based on the knowledge available the product was considered safe. Is this acceptable?
Other points to consider:
- Strict laws covering all aspects of liability should be in place before GM crops can be grown.
- Society should not have to pay for any unexpected effects from GM.
- Should farmers and GM firms have compulsory insurance for any environmental or economic damage caused by growing GM crops?
