17 February 2000 NO COVER FOR GM POLLUTION, FARMERS TOLD By PA news reporters The UK's leading farm insurance company, NFU Mutual, will not offer farmers cover against pollution from genetically-modified crops, Friends of the Earth said today. The group claimed the disclosure was expected to be of major concern to farmers with neighbours growing GM farmscale trial crops. The issue is to be raised in the Commons today by Labour MP Alan Simpson. But NFU Mutual spokesman Tim Price said no company was offering insurance to cover this sort of event. He said the insurance industry ``has a standard exclusion clause for any form of gradual pollution and the sort of pollution that would occur from GM would fall under that exclusion. ``Insurance is not available from any company for this sort of event''. FoE has obtained a copy of a letter from the National Farmers Union to a farmer in Lincolnshire, which states that the loss of GM-free status, the potential loss of crops through cross pollination and the loss of farmland through GM pollution, is something the NFUM cannot offer insurance against. FoE said it had frequently raised concerns about this issue and urged the Government to move quickly to ensure that the biotechnology industry was strictly liable for any harm caused by GM crops. Mr Simpson's Bill, which is being supported by FoE, places liability for harm caused to the environment and human health on the companies releasing or selling the GM crops or food. It also requires the companies to ensure they have adequate insurance cover and to create a compensation fund. A spokesman for the Government's GM Unit said: ``We have internationally agreed crop separation distances and the Government's top independent advisers, ACRE, have concluded that the risk of pollination beyond this is minuscule. ``Crops can only pollinate closely-related species and over time and distance, pollen becomes less active. ``Possible pollen transfer is something the Government has looked closely at and will continue to do that. ``Independent scientific advisers have assured the Government that the growing of GM crops in the forthcoming farm scale trials will not damage the environment.'' A spokesman for the National Farmers Union said: ``The Friends of the Earth statement is extremely misleading. ``Cross-pollination is a non insurable risk whether the crop is genetically-modified or not.''