News

Defra Secretary of State Warned: Take Wild Animals and Pets Out of the Gene Editing Bill

25th January 2023

Beyond GM, has written to Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to urge crucial amendments that will protect non-agricultural and wild plants and animals.

Everyone is NOT deregulating GMOs

23rd November 2022

It is ironic that, in its increasingly desperate attempts to promote its widely criticised bill, the UK government is now pushing the false narrative that the EU will be following our lead in deregulating GMOs. Here’s why it’s not true.

YouGov Poll: UK citizens demand robust regulation of GMOs

18th November 2022

A new nationwide poll shows a significant majority of adults living in the UK believe all GMOs should be traceable and labelled. The poll also shows citizens have little faith in government’s ability to regulate in a way that protects health, the environment and consumers’ right to choose

UK and EU supermarkets must support GMO regulation

11th October 2022

A coalition of 64 leaders from food, farming, religion, business, philanthropy and academia in the UK and in Europe have written to supermarkets with businesses in both the UK and EU, calling on them to support strong regulation of gene edited products and to protect consumer choice.

Scientists and policy experts: The term “precision breeding” misleads and has no place in serious legislation

8th September 2022

A joint statement signed by international scientists and policy experts criticises the British government for the use of the term “precision breeding” in its draft legislation to deregulate GMOs. We wholly support their aims.

Regulatory Policy Committee: Government’s case for deregulation “not fit for purpose”

24th June 2022

A damning report by the government’s Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) concludes that the government has failed to make a convincing business case for the deregulation of genetically engineered (so called “precision bred”) organisms in the farming and food system.

Civil society to MPs: The gene editing bill must be amended

10th June 2022

Groups and individuals from UK civil society issued a joint statement today urging MPs to take urgent steps to amend and strengthen the draft Genetic Technologies (Precision Breeding) Bill.

Help us raise awareness of the UK’s GMO deregulation agenda

2nd June 2022

The government promised a “step-by-step” approach to deregulating gene editing. What it has delivered is a broad remit for deregulating most kinds of GMOs used in agriculture. See here for how you can help us push back.

FOI documents show Defra wilfully ignores public views on gene editing

25th May 2022

Freedom of information documents obtained by Beyond GM show the breathtaking lengths the UK government has gone to in order to ignore public views on the regulation of gene editing.

A ‘Precision Breeding’ Bill to fast-track GMO deregulation in England

10th May 2022

Today’s Queen’s Speech detailed careless government plans to extend the deregulation of GMOs to commercial food and feed products.