UK government raises the GMO stakes: open trials of gene edited crops

October 10, 2024 by Staff Reporter

New plans for seed multiplication trials of gene-edited crops in England have been announced.

Three experimental gene-edited crops – two varieties of wheat and one variety of barley – are due to be planted in open trials on commercial farms in England. This is a first in terms of trials of genetically modified crops and a serious escalation of the government’s plans to push genetically modified gene-edited (so called “precision-bred”) crops onto the marketplace.

The project has reportedly received £2.2 million from Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, which is delivered by Innovate UK (a division of UK Research and Innovation, or UKRI) and is funded primarily through taxes. It will be ongoing from 2024 to 2026 with a goal of producing enough gene-edited seed to start commercial planting at the end of that period.

The project will operate under the title of PROBITY (a Platform to Rate Organisms Bred for Improved Traits and Yield) which is (probably unintentionally) ironic given that public money is being spent but the public has been given no say in the decision and there is, as yet, no publicly available information on the trial except for what can be found on organiser’s website.

According to the organisers, the main purpose of the trial is seed multiplication. After initial in-house trials over 2023-24 at the agricultural institutes John Innes and Rothamsted, there is now approximately 1kg of gene-edited seed of each variety available for planting. Over the next phase of the trial, the intention is to increase this to 100 tonnes for each variety. By 2026 the organisers anticipate that the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, which removes restrictions on the planting and sale of gene-edited crops and foods, will be fully functional and the seeds will be ready for commercial planting.

Even though the Genetic Technology Act is not yet fully functional, the trials are able to go ahead under the auspices of an earlier piece of legislation, the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022, which removed regulatory control from open field trials.

Questions, but no answers

It’s important to be clear here that so-called “precision bred organisms” (PBOs) are legally and scientifically genetically modified organisms. The removal of regulatory control from these GMOs, and their widespread and potentially uncontrolled planting, poses inevitable risks.

We are awaiting a response from the government to a whole range of questions about the trial, including:

Public money is being spent on these trials so why are there no documents available for the public to scrutinise?
What provision has been made for MPs (particularly in rural areas) to examine details of the trial to better understand how it might affect their constituents?
What measures are in place to ensure that no seeds find their way into the food chain or are fed to animals?
What measures are in place to ensure that once the trial has ended no trace of genetically modified precision-bred seed remains on the farms?
What training and what checks will be in place for commercial farmers taking part in the trials with regard to biosecurity and reducing the risk of cross-contamination?
Are any of the trial sites on or near organic farms? If so, how close are they?
Will non-GM farmers in the local area receive notification that there are trials of genetically modified precision-bred crops taking place in their area?
What is the scientific basis for the 20-metre separation distance stipulated in the Deliberate Release Amendment?

Supermarkets and food producers who will be expected to accept this gene-edited produce have been eerily quiet about the trial. So too has the government. Indeed the lack of clarity and transparency under which these trials are going ahead is the kind of thing Labour proposed should change, when it was in opposition.

Enquiries to Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner have yielded no useful information – though the government’s commitment to technological farming and food production has been made plain. Recently, Minister Zeichner told a conference full of biotech developers that he would be “introducing legislation to unlock precision breeding to boost Britain’s food security, support nature’s recovery and protect farmers from climate shocks” and that “with these measures, our agriculture sector will be at the forefront of innovation across the world.”

Help keep the pressure up on government and supermarkets in the UK. Use the contact information below to write and let them know that genetically modified “precision bred” organisms must be labelled and traceable at every step along the food chain.

We challenge the Minister to provide any evidence that these statements are true. The cold fact is that genetic modification has not lived up to its outlandish promises and the continued hyperbole damages attempts to create real and lasting sustainability. As researchers writing in the journal Nature note, it also damages the integrity of the science of genetics. According to the scientists: “Especially in the context of climate change and a growing human population, the growth of misleading claims around yields has become a cause of concern to us.”

In New Zealand a new drive to deregulate gene editing is underway, eminent geneticist Prof Jack Heinemann made the point more bluntly. Noting that, for all the hype and promises of transformation, the United States – the most biotech-friendly country in the world – has only commercialised 11 GM crops in 30 years, Heinemann suggests, “Let’s cut the crap on gene technology”.

Speak out, keep the pressure up

Cutting the crap is a big job. It needs all of us to speak out, to put our politicians and, crucially, supermarkets, on the spot.

We know our supporters feel strongly about this issue and so we are asking you to write to your MPs, to the Secretary of State for Food and Farming, to the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, to their opposite members in Parliament and to the UK’s supermarkets and tell them they must stick be true to their words, and work harder on our behalf.

Polls show that 8 in 10 UK citizens want to see gene-edited products labelled, so that they can make informed choices about what to buy and eat. So why are our supermarkets so far behind their European counterparts, which have been actively campaigning to ensure gene-edited foods are labelled (see here and here).

The UK also has a large non-GM farming sector encompassing, non-GM, artisanal, craft, traditional, organic, biodynamic and Geographical Indication (GI) producers who will wish to ensure their products remain GM-free. What are MPs in areas where this production takes place doing to support and protect these businesses?

Labelling and traceability right through the food chain are essential to ensure we all know what we are eating or selling. Transparency about field trials of gene-edited crops, which are being paid for with public money is non-negotiable.

If we don’t speak up now and demand clarity and accountability, there will be no checks and balances in the food system and biotech developers will simply be given free rein to plant what they want, where they want and sell it into any market they want, with no restrictions.

Please take the time to raise this issue with your MP and with your supermarket. You will find some information on how to do this below.

Write to the Secretary of State and/or the Farming Minister

The UK government website contains all the information you need to write to members of parliament. We include email contacts below but you can find physical addresses for constituency offices on individual government web pages for each MP. We urge you to make your correspondence short, firm and polite.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is Steve Reed. You can write to him via correspondence.section@defra.gov.uk. Ensure the subject line includes FAO Rt Hon Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. If Steve Reed is also your local MP you can write to him at steve.reed.mp@parliament.uk

The remit for genetically modified gene-edited farming and food sits with Daniel Zeichner. You can also write to him via correspondence.section@defra.gov.uk, ensuring that the subject line includes FAO Rt Hon Daniel Zeichner Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs. If Daniel Zeichner is also your local MP, you can write direct to him at daniel@danielzeichner.co.uk

Write to food and farming spokespeople in other parties

The Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is Steve Barclay. You can write to him at stephen.barclay.mp@parliament.uk
The Shadow Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is Robbie Moore. You can write to him at robbie.moore.mp@parliament.uk
The farming spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats is Tim Farron. You can write to him at farront@parliament.uk. if Tim is your local MP you can write to his constituency office at tim@timfarron.co.uk.
The Green Party lead on food farming and environment is Adrian Ramsay. You can write to him at adrian.ramsay.mp@parliament.uk.

Write to your MP

We want everybody to write, but if you are a farmer/grower in a rural area of England where you might be affected by these trials, we urge you to contact your MP and ask what they know about the trial and whether they can assure you that your business will be protected and insist that they ask questions in the House on your behalf.

If you don’t know who your MP is you can:

Check on the government website using the official Find Your MP search engine
Use the easy-to -navigate web portal at They Work for You

Write to or email your supermarket

Supermarkets seem to be making it increasingly difficult to contact them with questions or complaints. Every supermarket has a different system and emails and addresses can change often. Below are the most up-to-date contact details we have for UK supermarkets.

ALDI

Chief Executive: Giles Hurley (gmd.cs@aldi.co.uk)

Address: Holly Lane, Atherstone, Warwickshire, CV9 2SQ

Phone: 0800 042 0800

Email: customer.service@aldi.co.uk

Customer Service online form: https://help.aldi.co.uk/s/contact-form-online

X: @AldiUK

ASDA

Chief Executive: Asda currently has no CEO

Address: Asda House, Southbank, Great Wilson Street, Leeds, LS11 5AD
Phone: 0113 243 5435; 0330 053 0111

Email: Executive Relations: asda_executive_relations@mailln.custhelp.com; or ceo@asda.co.uk

Email: the customer service