Opposition to GM crops must cease - National Beef Assoc

Concerned as much by food price inflation as rocketing feed costs, the National Beef Association has called for pressure groups and EU governments to drop their opposition to GM cropping.

It says "seismic shifts" in world demand for food, the growing danger of global food shortages, and the prospect of declining domestic animal production make it essential that farmers are allowed to use modern technology to grow more food crops on the increasingly limited area of agricultural land that is available.

"Rapid food price inflation is already alarming government and consumers, and the production of both cereals and meat will reduce at the same time as shop prices reach toe curling levels unless GM aids become part of UK and EU farming's routine tool kit," said chairman Duff Burrell.

The NBA points out that just one GM crop, an insect resistant maize planted on just 110,000 hectares, is so far authorised for use within the EU, while a second crop, a blight resistant potato has still to complete its production trials.

Meanwhile huge exporters like the US and Argentina have between them put almost 80 million hectares down to GM crops because they expect them to raise yields and they are now being followed by Brazil and Canada as well as India and China.

"This means that as Europe becomes more reliant on food imports, its consumers will buy more products that contain an increasing proportion of GM ingredient and claims made by uninformed GM opponents that they are able to protect consumers from GM products have already become a joke," said Mr Burrell."

"The European Commission must accept that opposition to GM technology lacks logic and agree that the GM import issue needs an urgent solution because a massive rise in EU and UK livestock feed prices, and a corresponding reduction in livestock population, can only be avoided by quickly clearing the backlog of GM importation approvals."