Tesco, the UK's largest food retailer, has written to its suppliers instructing them not to grow crops on sites used for the testing of genetically modified crops. The letter to suppliers states that "We need to be able to assure our customers that no material from GM crop trials could come in contact with our crops. Therefore any crop grown for Tesco MUST NOT [Tesco's emphasis] be grown in a field that has been used for GM trial crops".
The announcement by Tesco will be a blow to Government efforts to find farmers willing to host GM crop trials this year. The announcement may also have implications for the commercial value of agricultural land that is used for GM crop trials.
Peter Melchett, Executive Director of Greenpeace, said: "This dramatic move will be welcomed by everyone who shops at Tesco and we warmly congratulate Tesco for taking a lead on this vital environmental issue. We expect that every supermarket and food retailer in the UK will now have to follow Tesco's lead. Any farmer considering holding a GM field trial on their land now faces the prospect of never being able to sell produce from GM contaminated land to the largest food retailer in Britain. This announcement will be a blow to Government efforts to find farmers willing to host GM crop trials this year."
Tesco's new instructions were revealed by Peter Melchett speaking from the platform at the Oxford Farming Conference.
Notes to editors:
1. Text of Tesco letter available from Greenpeace press office.
2. The Government is proposing GM farmscale trials for 3 crop varieties -winter oilseed rape (planting in September/October), spring oilseed rape (planting in April) and forage maize (planting in May) - over 60 sites. The total potential area covered by the GM farmscale trials is estimated at 1,700 acres (750 hectares) this year.
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on: 020 7865 8255
