Consultation responses
Detailed, referenced, written responses to a wide range of formal consultations concerning issues relating to GM in food and farming. This includes objections to UK GM field trials, submissions to parliamentary inquiries and more. Multi-agency responses are submitted on behalf of GM Freeze and other organisations.
Bright Blue: Manifesto for Conservation
29 Nov 2018
GM Freeze responded to think tank Bright Blue’s call for evidence towards a Conservative Manifesto for Conservation, which included a specifc question about the regulation of GM in food production. Our evidence makes the following key points:
- The authorisation of GM crops must follow a robust, transparent and consistent process that encompasses social and ethical impacts alongside safety concerns.
- GM regulation must protect the entire food chain through effective and consistently enforced measures to prevent GM contamination.
- Consumers want to make an informed choice through clear GM labelling.
- All forms of genetic engineering, including genome editing, should be regulated in the same way as established GM techniques.
Department of International Trade consultations on post-Brexit trade negotiations
24 Oct 2018
GM Freeze evidence to four separate consultations on trade negotiations. In each, we call for the retention of high standards on GM regulations, including the labelling of food with GM ingredients.
Details of the consultations themselves can be found on the Department for International Trade website.
EFRA: Agriculture Bill Inquiry
18 Oct 2018
GM Freeze evidence to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Commitee’s Agriculture Bill Inquiry.
Key points in our evidence include:
- Genetic resources and genetic diversity are both key public goods. Genetic resources should not be controlled through patenting.
- The UK needs a robust and transparent process for authorising the use of GMOs; effective measures to prevent GM contamination and an effective liability regime for those affected by GM contamination.
- Transparency and fairness require compulsory clear labelling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients.
- The devolved nations’ divergent policy on GM in food and farming must be respected and legislation developed that will allow it to be fully implemented.
Food Standards Agency consultation response: Retained EU Law
18 Oct 2018
GM Freeze response to the Food Standards Agency’s consultation on their proposed approach to retained EU law for food and feed safety and hygiene.
Our evidence raises concerns about the UK’s capacity to replicate the role of EFSA in providing GM risk assessments, the importance of GM labelling and the need to respect Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s rejection of GM crops. We also highlight the opportunity Brexit offers to improve legislation around GM through improved risk assessments, contamination control measures and labelling of GM-fed products.
Defra Consultation response: Health and Harmony
10 May 2018
GM Freeze’s response to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Command Paper on agricultural policy after the UK leaves the European Union.
Defra: Multi-agency response to GM camelina trial 18/R8/01
28 Mar 2018
GM Freeze and twenty-five other organisations come together to ask Defra not to allow Rothamsted Research to hold another open-air field trial of GM Camelina.
Brexit: Trade in food inquiry
2 Nov 2017
GM Freeze’s response to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry into Brexit and trade in food.
Our evidence highlights the importance of labelling to protect consumer choice and the potential impact of unlabelled GM imports. We also discuss the fact that the UK’s devolved nations have all taken a different political position on GM to that of the Westminster government.
Defra: Multi-agency response to potato trial 17_R29_01
16 Mar 2017
GM Freeze and thirty-two other organisations came together to ask Defra not to allow The Sainsbury Laboratory to release GM potatoes in an open-air trial.
Defra: Multi-agency response to wheat trial 16_R8_02
14 Dec 2016
GM Freeze and thirty other organisations came together to ask Defra not to allow Rothamsted Research to release GM wheat in an open-air trial.
Science Communication Inquiry
16 May 2016
GM Freeze submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry into Science Communication.
Our evidence explains why we consider that the framing of regulatory consultations, media coverage and wider debate around the use GM in food and farming is too narrow. Social and ethical considerations are excluded from the regulatory process and side-lined in the media. Individuals who are not able to express themselves with scientific accuracy are denied a voice and language is used in ways that can easily mislead or confuse.
