Seed contamination

Genetic pollution from GE crops is irreversible and has the potential to be a problem that multiplies as plants grow and reproduce. Contamination of conventional seed lots with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can happen during breeding, propagation and processing of seeds. Non-GE or organic crops in neighbouring fields can be pollinated by GE crops.

Only recently a European Environment Agency report came to the conclusion that oilseed rape, for instance, can be desribed as high risk for gene flow from crop to crop and crop to wild relatives. Other major food crops like sugar beet and maize are medium to high risk.

Semi-wild, weed or 'feral' populations of GE plants can develop if GE crops survive in the agricultural or natural environment. The consquences can be seen in Canada, where GE 'superweeds' resistant to a range of herbicides have emerged after only five years of commercial growing of GE oilseed rape.

Amendments clearly needed

It is already illegal to release and market any GMOs in the EU not approved under the relevant legislation. But the question of how to deal with the presence of EU-approved GMOs in conventional seeds was unclear. Greenpeace has repeatedly pointed to this problem and supports clear, binding and effective regulation at the EU level to protect seeds from contamination.

Instead, the European Commission has repeatidly tried to adopt a Directive allowing unlabelled contamination of seed lots by GMOs up to a threshold of 0.7 percent.

The European Commission is now working on a new proposal for a Seed Directive regulating the presence of GMOs in conventional seeds but still wants to legalize the contamination with high thresholds instead of protecting the seeds from contamination. The Commission plans to asopt its proposal in May 2004, after which 'experts' from Members States would have to vote on it in a EU 'committee', with no involvement of the European Parliament or of the Council of Ministers.

If the thresholds proposed by the Commission (0.3 to 0.7 depending on the species) were adopted, it would lead to a general creeping contamination of European agriculture. In the short term, it would shift the burden of contamination on farmers and on the whole food industry at the benefit of seed companies. Costs associated with testing or with measures to prevent or limit contamination would rocket.

Contrary to processed food products, seeds are living organisms, able to reproduce and to multiply in the environment. Seeds are also the basis of the food production chain. The value decided for these thresholds is the crucial measure that will determine the feasibility, the complexity and the costs of the measures aimed at avoiding contamination further down the production chain.

The Greenpeace position

Stakeholders were invited by the European Commission to comment on the proposed measures and in March 2002 Greenpeace made a submission. Greenpeace asserts that the precautionary principle should be the basis of any legislation dealing with deliberate or non-intentional release of GMOs into the environment. Legislators should guarantee the fundamental right of consumers, farmers and citizens to refuse GMOs and should protect the environment against unnecessary risks and potentially irreversible damage.

Farmers and food producers should not beart the burden of this contamination that a few multinatinals try to impose, and should also be protected from it by being given the guaranty that the seeds they use are free from GM contamination.

Greenpeace demands zero tolerance for contamination of seeds by both approved and unapproved GMOs. Certified quality assurance regimes must be implemented to ensure the greatest possible care is taken to prevent GMO contamination. Zero tolerance means in effect that no contamination be detectable. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing now has a detection threshold of 0.1 percent contamination.

Industry claims misguided

Industry claims that it is already impossible to avoid genetic contamination, and under lobby pressure from agribusiness the EU is proposing to allow 0.3 to 0.7 percent contamination of seeds. However, recent evidence shows it is completely unnecessary to allow this high level of contamination. A list established by cropchoice.com in January 2002 names more than 30 US companies able to provide GMO free seeds (below the 0.1 percent threshold of contamination). Furthermore, a number of European national governments have confirmed that the seeds they have tested this year and last were, by and large, below this detection level.

To summarise, it is imperative to establish legislation to ensure that no GMO contamination above detection level is allowed in conventional seeds, and to establish controls which ensure this remains the case.


In-Depth:

Genetic pollution: a multiplying nightmare

US companies that supply GMO-free seed