13 Greenpeace volunteers involved in preventing one of the world's biggest ships from docking at Bristol and unloading a huge cargo of American GM crops will appear in court tomorrow (30/06/04) in Barry, South Wales (1).
The hearing is being held at 9.45am at Vale of Glamorgan Magistrates' Court, Thompson Street, Barry, Wales.
The MV Etoile, a 125,000 tonne, Panamanian-registered ship, was carrying thousands of tonnes of GM maize into Bristol from the US. The ship went to anchor in the Bristol Channel off Rhoose Point, South Wales and was prevented from docking for 36 hours, after Greenpeace climbers attached themselves to the sides of the vessel and asked the captain to turn the ship around and return its GM cargo to the US.
The GM maize was destined for dairy farms that supply milk to Britain's biggest supermarkets. Despite promising to remove GM-fed products from their lines Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Safeways all sell own-brand milk from cows fed on American genetically-modified crops.
Greenpeace campaigner Emma Gibson said: "These volunteers took non violent direct action to prevent this cargo of GM being smuggled into our food against the wishes of the UK public."
She continued, "The only people who can stop these shipments for good are the big supermarkets like Sainsburys. We urge people to contact their local supermarket if they don't want to buy GM milk and tell them to get it out of their food."
Official DEFRA figures compiled by Greenpeace reveal that in 2003 the UK imported 444,000 tonnes of maize gluten feed, a substantial proportion of which was genetically modified (2).
Growing GM cops is harmful to the environment, leading to huge increases in the use of powerful chemicals on crops. The effects of the technology are unpredictable, and no reputable studies have been conducted into the safety of GM food.
Further information
Contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255 or 07801 212993.
- Upon arrest all 13 volunteers were charged with creating a public nuisance. Wednesday's court appearance is the first and it is anticipated that it will confirm the charges and the defendants will plead.
- In 2003 the UK imported 444,000 tonnes of maize gluten feed(MGF), the vast majority of which came from the USA - download DEFRA's official figures here. Because GM maize is widely grown in the USA a significant percentage of the MGF imports into the UK will be GM. The latest figures estimate that 40% of the maize grown in the USA is GM. MGF is exported from the USA in bulk tankers by companies such as Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland and is unloaded at places like Avonmouth in Bristol. The chances are that this imported feed will not be labelled as GM, even though new EU labelling legislation came into force in April.
Once in Bristol it is transported to animal feed companies, such as BOCM Pauls, who have storage facilities around the country. From here the MGF is transported to farmers who then feed it to their dairy cows. The milk is subsequently collected and processed by dairies then distributed to the major supermarkets.
