Campaigners reveal illegal varieties of GM are being imported into UK
A jury at Cardiff Crown Court today cleared 13 Greenpeace volunteers of causing a public nuisance after a two-week trial that saw the trade in GM animal feed attacked by defendants from the witness box.
The 13 were tried on charges relating to a protest last June when Greenpeace blocked a 125,000 tonne bulk-carrier from unloading its cargo in Bristol. The Etoile's huge consignment - GM animal feed from the US - was destined to be fed to British dairy cows to produce milk for the UK's biggest supermarkets. Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and Morrisons all sell own-brand milk from cows fed on American GM feed.
Speaking immediately after the verdict Ben Ayliffe, one of the defendants, said: "We're obviously extremely happy with the verdict, which vindicates our action in trying to prevent what we believed to be illegal GM organisms being imported into the country. Greenpeace believed our volunteers were rightly acting to protect people's food and the environment when we blocked the shipment."
Greenpeace can now reveal that tests on imports of American GM maize coming into Bristol contained unauthorised illegal GM organisms. The varieties were banned in Europe, but were found by expert laboratory analysts in samples taken from ships over the last two years, both before and after the shipment that the 13 have been acquitted for blocking.
Greenpeace was advised to withhold the results until the trial.
"We told the jury we were convinced illegal GM was being brought into Britain and it seems they believed us," said Ben Ayliffe. "GM crops are untested and unpredictable and pose a threat to the environment. The fact that we found illegal varieties in imported cargo shows this industry is out of control. We'll continue our campaign against GM and call for a government investigation into these GM imports."
The MV Etoile, a Panamanian-registered ship, went to anchor in the Bristol Channel off Rhoose Point, South Wales, and was prevented from docking for 36 hours after Greenpeace climbers boarded the vessel. The protesters asked the captain to turn the ship around and return its GM cargo to the US. The ship eventually entered Bristol's Royal Portbury Dock with climbers still on board.
For more contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255 / 07801 212967
