In response to today's announcement by Advanta seeds that they will be compensating farmers for supplying them with GM contaminated oil seed rape seeds Greenpeace UK GM Campaigner Andy Tait said,
"We are delighted by Advanta's announcement that they will compensate farmers who pull up their GM contaminated rape crops. It's a shame that it took over a month of bungling and dithering by both Advanta and the Government, and the threat of legal proceedings from Greenpeace, before they finally agreed to do the right thing,
"The Government must now show leadership on this issue and take steps to ensure that there is no recurrence of this deplorable incident and that non GM seeds mean just that - any level of GM contamination of seed is unacceptable,
He continued, "We urge the government to reject the proposals currently being pushed by the GM industry for 'acceptable levels' of GM contamination of seeds. This may sound like a reasonable proposition, until you consider the fact that GM seeds grow into viable GM crops that will cross pollinate and contaminate the wider environment, "Setting levels for 'acceptable' GM contamination of seeds is simply sneaking GM crops in through the back door and is totally unacceptable".
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