FARMER DESTROYS GM-CONTAMINATED CROP
May 23, 2000
PA News
Andrew Woodcock, Political Correspondent

John Sanderson, a UK farmer who owns a 182 hectare mixed arable farm near
Harleston and who inadvertently planted GM-contaminated oilseed rape was
cited as saying today he had decided to dig up his crop.

The story says that  thousands of acres of farmland across Britain were sown
with the seed imported from Canada by Advanta Seeds, which was not aware
that it contained up to 1% of GM material.

So far, no compensation package has been offered to the farmers affected by
the mistake, who face potential financial losses if supermarket chains
refuse to buy the contaminated crops.

Mr Sanderson, 44, was cited as saying he had been contacted by a seed
merchant last week and told that he had been mistakenly sold GM spring seed
and that he would now be taking legal advice in a bid to gain compensation
for the loss of the crop, which he said was worth  5,000, adding, "I was
flabbergasted. It may be that in the future I will decide to grow GM crops.
But that has got to be my decision and I will take it if I feel the public
is ready for it. It's certainly not something I am prepared to have foisted
on me. After careful thought I have taken the decision to destroy the crop
before it has a chance to flower and contaminate anything else. I have taken
this decision on a purely commercial basis and I will be taking legal
advice."

The story adds that Advanta is understood to have advised UK farmers not to
destroy their crops.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Pete Riley was quoted as saying, "This is a
brave action by an individual farmer facing company pressure and Government
indifference. But it is a disgrace that farmers have been put in this
position. The Government has a duty to see that all the contaminated crops
are removed from the ground at once and that farmers are properly
compensated for any losses they suffer. We have repeatedly warned the
Government that the issue of liability for damage caused by GM crops is
completely unresolved. Incidents like this are bound to happen again if the
headlong rush to commercial development of GM crops continues."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture was quoted as saying, "We have
made it clear that no action to destroy crops is required, after having
taken advice from our expert committees, who have said there is no risk to
public health or the environment."