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Scotland's rural affairs secretary has said that the country will ban the growing of genetically modified crops and opt out of allowing EU-approved GMOs such as MON 810 (corn with an added Bacillus thuringiensis gene):
Richard Lochhead said the Scottish government was not prepared to "gamble" with the future of the country's £14bn food and drink sector. He is to request that Scotland be excluded from any European consents for the cultivation of GM crops. But farming leaders said they were disappointed by the move. Under EU rules, GM crops must be formally authorised before they can be cultivated. An amendment came into force earlier this year which allows member states and devolved administrations to restrict or ban the cultivation of genetically modified organisms within their territory.
[...] Mr Lochhead added: "There is no evidence of significant demand for GM products by Scottish consumers and I am concerned that allowing GM crops to be grown in Scotland would damage our clean and green brand, thereby gambling with the future of our £14bn food and drink sector. Scottish food and drink is valued at home and abroad for its natural, high quality which often attracts a premium price, and I have heard directly from food and drink producers in other countries that are ditching GM because of a consumer backlash."
[...] The move has also been broadly welcomed by environment groups. But Scott Walker, chief executive of farming union NFU Scotland, said he was disappointed that the Scottish government had decided that no GM crops should ever be grown in Scotland. "Other countries are embracing biotechnology where appropriate and we should be open to doing the same here in Scotland," he said. "These crops could have a role in shaping sustainable agriculture at some point and at the same time protecting the environment which we all cherish in Scotland." Huw Jones, professor of molecular genetics at agricultural science group Rothamsted Research, said the announcement was a "sad day for science and a sad day for Scotland. He said that GM crops approved by the EU were "safe for humans, animals and the environment".
The European Parliament voted to give member states the ability to opt-out of allowing the cultivation of EU-approved GMOs in January.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Monday August 10 2015, @08:57PM
The technology can certainly be put to good use
Will that ever actually happen?
I agree with you that theoretically it could be useful, although in practice it curiously only seems to ship ripoff product tying overuse of poisons which probably are not overly healthy when used to excess.
Yeah blah blah genetically modified cows could turn into unicorns that poop skittles but in practice it seems to correlate extremely strongly with dodgy business practices.
The way to wedge in something kinda crooked is to start with something fairly harmless looking and THEN try to push the bad stuff. They shouldda started out pushing naturally haggis flavored rice or something. Then once that's in and considered "normal" start to do the product tying thing to sell overuse of pesticides and herbicides.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 10 2015, @09:18PM
The technology can certainly be put to good use
Will that ever actually happen?
Rainbow Papaya [hawaiitribune-herald.com] saved the papaya industry in Hawaii.
That is not to say the rainbow papaya is not without controversy, it seems to very easily cross-pollinate other species, so loss of control is one problem. And one thing we can't know is if we would have come up with a better fix if this species hadn't been created. Necessity is the mother of invention.