Listen
Unauthorised GM release
12/09/2008
Corrective measures have been taken after trial sowings of a new variety of oilseed rape in Scotland were found to contain small amounts of unauthorised GM material.
The situation is contained and there are no current risks to human or animal health or to the environment.
Further sowings of this batch of seed have been stopped. Plants on the three trial plots will be destroyed.
Minister for Environment Michael Russell said:
"Had these plants been allowed to mature, the risk to the environment could have been very serious.
"However, prompt action by the Scottish Government is ensuring that the situation is remedied.
"This further emphasises the continuing need for rigourous controls on GM material and for Scotland to remain a GM crop-free zone.
"The Scottish Government are working with stakeholders to understand how this occurred and to ensure that it never happens again."
No GM crop may be grown in Europe unless it has explicit approval for cultivation granted under the GM Food and Feed Regulation (1829/2003) or the Deliberate Release of GMOs into the Environment Directive 2001/18/EC. Any authorised GM which is marketed also needs to conform to traceability and labelling requirements.
In this case, a seed sample of a new conventional oilseed rape variety submitted into the UK's National List trialling programme has been found to contain small amounts of a genetically modified herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape.
This seed sample was due to have been sown at national list trial sites in England and Scotland. This will now not happen and the seed has been sent to the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) Seed Handling Unit for destruction.
However, the same batch of seed has also been used for three additional trials which have been recently sown. Two of these sites are in Aberdeenshire and one near Arbroath. Although these sowings represents a technical breach of the GM regulations, they do not represent any current risk to human or animal heath or to the environment. A risk to the environment would only be present if the plants were allowed to mature and produce pollen and set seed which could spread or persist in the environment.
Inspectors from the Scottish Government's GM Inspectorate will ensure that the plants are destroyed.