Select Committee on Agriculture Third Report


APPENDIX 13

Memorandum submitted by the Board of United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards (R 17)

BACKGROUND TO UKROFS' INTEREST

  1.  The United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards is the body established in 1987 by Agriculture Ministers as the UK Authority for organically produced foods. Since the establishment of EC Standards for Organic food and farming (principally Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 and Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999) it has become the inspection authority for control of standards for the production of organic food in the UK.

  2.  UKROFS has approved six private sector bodies (Organic Farmers and Growers Ltd, Scottish Organic Producers Association, Organic Food Federation, Soil Association Certification Ltd, Bio-Dynamic Agricultural Association and Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association) for all aspects of organic production. In addition it has approved Food Certification (Scotland) Ltd for organic salmon production. UKROFS itself is also able to register producers directly, although only 10 producers are registered under this scheme.

  3.  The UKROFS Board—see Annex—is appointed by Agriculture Ministers. There is a small secretariat supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

UKROFS' POSITION ON USE OF GM MATERIAL IN ORGANIC FARMING

  4.  As early as 1995 the Board of UKROFS stated its view that GMOs or their derivatives have no place in organic production systems. In giving this opinion the Board said that it was mindful of the potential benefits of gene technology, but considered that most consumers and producers would, currently, be opposed to the application of the technology to organically produced foods.

  The UKROFS Standards for organic food production were amended in 1997 specifically to exclude GM products, or derivatives, whether as whole organisms, ingredients, processing aids or ingredients for animal feeds. UKROFS took this decision in advance of EC legislation, although Regulation 1804/1999 published on 24 August 1999 has instituted similar EC-wide provisions with immediate effect.

  5.  The initial provisions in the UKROFS standards were concerned with the use of GM products or their derivatives. However, with the introduction of field scale trials of GM crops and the likely commercialisation of such crops, attention is now especially focused on the need, which the Board of UKROFS and the organic industry perceive, to ensure that GM materials are fully segregated from organic foods at all stages of production.

  6.  The difficulties of ensuring absolute segregation of crops were highlighted in the Report produced for MAFF by the John Innes Centre "Organic Farming and Gene Transfer From Genetically Modified Crops" (May 1999). The report confirmed that once released, GM crops, like all crops, cannot be contained completely and that the complete isolation of organic crops cannot be guaranteed under present circumstances. The report suggested that it was necessary for "acceptable levels" of contamination of organic crops to be decided and measures identified to achieve them. EC Regulation 1804/1999 also recognises this possibility and makes provision for the setting of de minimis thresholds for the presence of GM material in organic products, although this provision has not yet been used.

  7.  The Board of UKROFS remain concerned that many consumers and producers of organic foods have a strong desire to avoid GM material entirely and for them a minimum acceptable level would be a betrayal of the organic ideal. The Board believes that the presence of GMOs (irreversible incorporation of genetic material into the food chain) is of an entirely different order to accidental environmental contamination by pesticides, a comparison which is sometimes made by those outside the organic movement.

  8.  In farm or horticultural production of organic crops, the Board identify two particular dangers: the "pollution" of crops through incorporation in plants of genetically modified genes by sexual transmission and "contamination" through the external presence of pollen etc. In addition the Board identify other routes by which organic farming might be affected, such as through agricultural inputs (seed, feed etc) or through modification of soil flora or gut microflora in animals.

  9.  In the preparation of organic foods, processors are required by law to ensure that any non organic materials used (eg processing aids or minor agricultural ingredients not available organically) are GMO free. This exclusion extends also to derivatives of GMOs described in Regulation 1804/1999 as "any substance which is either produced from or produced by GMOs, but does not contain them". It is thus important that there is clear labelling of all food ingredients derived from GMOs whether or not they contain the genetic material of the original organism.

  10.  The Government has placed much emphasis on the ability of the industry which produces GM seed to police the introduction of commercial planting and to ensure adequate separation between GM crops and other plants, including organic crops. The Board of UKROFS does not accept that this is an adequate approach or that the protocol drawn up by SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops) is sufficient to protect organic production.

  11.  On 16 July 1999 the Chairman of the UKROFS Board, Professor Roy Ward wrote to the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food to ask that Ministers should confirm their previously stated commitment to protect the right of consumers to eat organic food. In addition the Board requested discussions to agree procedures for the approval of field trials of GM crops and assessment and monitoring of the impact on organic farms of the field trial programme.

  12.  The Board called for further research and assessment of the impact of release of GMOs into the environment and for a moratorium to be imposed on the commercial planting of GM crops. The Board emphasised that it was suggesting this not as a campaigning point, but because it felt that it was impossible to introduce adequate controls without further information.

  13.  Whilst MAFF has undertaken to consider further research and development work on the lines requested by the Board and to consider the adequacy of arrangements for protecting organic crops from GM planting, the Minister has replied that a moratorium would be unnecessary, since there are sufficient safeguards in place and that there would be legal and other difficulties in preventing the planting of GM crops which had successfully negotiated the approval process. The Minister has said that "GM crops can be introduced in a cautious and carefully controlled way, ensuring that justified concerns are fully addressed".

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

  14.  Despite the Minister's assurances, the Board of UKROFS believes that justified concerns are not being met at present. The Board recommends that, pending the outcome of further research the Committee should:

    —  reiterate the call for moratorium on the commercial planting of genetically modified crops;

    —  call for organic farmers to be compensated for any loss of organic status resulting from a trial as a condition of the approval;

    —  urge the establishment of better arrangements (already discussed with MAFF) for the assessment of the likely impact on all organic farms within an agreed radius of trials of GM crops;

    —  urge the commencement of further research (also already discussed with MAFF) on the impact of the introduction of GMOs on organic farming;

    —  insist on clear labelling so that any food or ingredient derived from a GMO is identified whether or not it contains GM material.

8 October 1999



Annex

UKROFS BOARD MEMBERS—JUNE 1999

  Professor Roy Ward. Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Hull and former Deputy Vice Chancellor. (Chairman).

  Mr John Barnard. Consultant and former senior Trading Standards Officer, in Norfolk.

  Mrs Dorothy Craig, MBE JP. Chairman, Food and Agriculture Working Party of Consumers in Europe Group.

  Jan Deane. Organic Horticulturist and Official of International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements.

  Mr Robert Duxbury. Product Manager—Organics, Primary Agriculture Dept., Sainsbury Supermarket Ltd.

  Mr Nigel Elgar. Organic Farmer in Powys.

  Mr Douglas Gray. Regional Veterinary Manager, Scottish Agricultural College.

  Mr John Hoey. (from December 1999) Organic agricultural adviser and former organic farmer in Northern Ireland.

  Mr Andrew Jedwell. Managing Director, Meridian Foods Ltd, Corwen, Denbighshire.

  Ms Diane McCrea. Consultant in food and consumer affairs, Commissioner of the Meat and Livestock Commission. Negotiator for Consumers International at Codex Alimentarius.

  Professor John McInerney. Glanely Professor of Agriculture Policy and Director of the Agricultural Economics Unit, University of Exeter.

  Mrs Charlotte Russell. Organic Farmer in Cornwall.

  Mr Charlie Wannop. Organic Farmer, Kirkcudbright.

  Mr Lawrence Woodward. Director, Elm Park Research Centre, Hamstead Marshall, Near Newbury.

  Mr Simon Wright. Consultant Food Technologist.


 
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