The Government's policy on GM foods is "out of date and out of tune" with the needs of the Irish agriculture and the best interests of the environment, according to organisations opposed to their development in the Republic.
In response to the recent independent panel report on GM foods, whose positive but cautious approach was endorsed by the Government, 16 non-governmental organisations said the outcome (part of a national consultation process) ran contrary to consumer trends. Gene technology as applied to food was also being endorsed when, they claimed, "there is no scientific consensus that GM foods are safe".
Genetic Concern spokeswoman Ms Sadhbh O'Neill said the report was not only "wholly out of tune with public opinion and the latest scientific evidence", but advocated a positive approach to biotechnology at a time when the market for GM produce was collapsing. "Government policy will be irrelevant as consumers are voting with their feet and their purses, and avoiding GM food."
Ms Iva Pocock, of Voice environmental group, said there were developments almost daily indicating that multinational biotech companies were being forced to change their approach. The leading European financial institution, Deutsche Bank, had warned them to steer away from GM foods if they wanted their share prices to stop falling. "Supermarket groups, food processors and exporters are removing GM ingredients. The Government has a duty to protect Irish agricultural interests but the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, is basically telling farmers to grow GM crops for which there is no demand."
The contention that organic farming might be damaging to biodiversity was rejected by Ms Kathryn Marsh, of the Organic Trust. She said it displayed ignorance of the value, productivity and environmental benefits offered by organic agriculture.
Dr Ruth McGrath, a microbiologist who represented the NGOs at the first consultation debate prior to their withdrawal from the process, criticised the report's dismissal of environmental risks. "We raised issues of concern surrounding horizontal gene transfer; the potential of new viruses, antibiotic resistance, allergies and unknown effects of transgenic crops."
It will take some years to examine, test and quantify fully the benefits or otherwise of GM foods, the chief executive of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, Mr Dermott Jewell, has said. "In the meantime, consumers have to make their own decisions."
In a survey for its magazine, Consumer Choice, it found some ingredients were produced from a GM source but may not have to be labelled under current regulations. CAI food specialist Ms Celine Murrin also raised with food companies the possibility their ingredients or additives might be from a GM source. Most of them did not respond directly but issued a general policy statement indicating they do not use GM ingredients.
