May 27, 2000 / PA News/Reuters
The U.K. government was cited as advising that farmers who have inadvertently planted GM contaminated seeds can either destroy their crop now or harvest it in the knowledge that it cannot be sold.
The stories say that farmers who elect to cultivate the crops will either have to destroy them on harvest or find another means of disposing of them -- possibly by selling them outside the EU although the legality of that has yet to be settled.
Unveiling the government's advice at Westminster, Agriculture Minister Nick Brown was cited as saying he had no powers to order farmers to destroy the crops, but he made it plain that he believed quick destruction was the preferable option, adding "Were I a farmer and considering the two options -- it is a personal view -- I think I would take option A. If they choose option A, they have certainty about this vexed question of disposal."
Mr Brown was further cited as saying there was no question of the government compensating farmers, and that ultimately farmers may have to resolve the matter with the seed supply company, Advanta, in the courts and that he believed Advanta should look favourably on claims for compensation, stating, "It is clear there is a loss to farmers," he said. "It is clear to me that the responsibility lies with the people who sold them the defective product."
The Government had identified two options. The first was that farmers who decided to abandon the crop immediately could, up to June 15, replant their fields and the second crop would still qualify for set-aside payments and the Arable Areas Payments Scheme.
The second option, which was similar to how the Swedish authorities have dealt with the contamination problem, would see farmers continue to grow the affected crop up to harvesting and still qualify for AAPS payments.
But at harvesting, farmers would have to find some way of disposing of the crop, given that it cannot be marketed within the EU.
Mr Brown said the industry had raised the possibility of the crops being shipped outside the EU to an area where marketing consent was not a problem, such as North America.
(posted without permission)
