controlli GMOs: teoria e pratica

["AlessandroGimona"<agimona at libero.it>]

Cari tutti,
come forse sapete gia' e' emerso ieri che, per errore, migliaia di 
ettari sono stati seminati con semi transgenici in UK.

[articolo dal sito del Guardian sotto)

Mi sembra un esempio, di come la teoria diverga dalla pratica in tema di 
biosafety. I semi sono indistinguibili e i prodotti pure.
Tenerli separati non e' facile in paesi sviluppati.
si puo' ipotizzare che sarebbe estremamente difficile in paesi in via di 
sviluppo.

Saluti

Alessandro Gimona



[dal sito del Guardian http;//www.guardian.co.uk]


Thousands of acres of crops tainted by
                                                                  GM 
pollen have been growing in Britain for
                                                                  more 
than a year and may have been
                                                                  used 
in food production, the government
                                                                  
admitted last night in a move that is highly
                                                                  
embarrassing for its scientific advisers,
                                                                  who 
had previously claimed there was
                                                                  little 
risk of cross-pollination with
                                                                  
conventional crops. 

                                                                  
Hundreds of farmers have unwittingly
                                                                  
planted the contaminated seed over two
                                                                  spring 
seasons without the safeguards
                                                                  used 
for GM field trials, but ministers,
                                                                  whose 
officials had known about the
                                                                  
pr
                                                             no 
risk to health or the environment.

                                                                  The 
seeds came from the Canadian
                                                                  
prairies, from plants that were growing
                                                                  more 
than 800 metres away from the
                                                                  
nearest GM varieties but still picked up
                                                                  traces 
of modified material.

                                                                  The 
tainted seed is thought to have been
                                                                  used 
on 9,000 hectares last year, nearly
                                                                  2% of 
the rape crop. This year it has
                                                                  
probably been used on 4,700 hectares,
                                                                  
involving between 500 and 600 farmers.

                                                                  It 
also emerged that there had been no
                                                                  random 
testing of imports of conventional
                                                                  seed 
for rogue GM material, despite the
                                                                  rapid 
spread of GM crops through the
                                                                  United 
States, Canada and Brazil. In this
                                                                  
country no GM seeds are to be sold to
                                                                  
farmers until after three years of farm trials
                                                                  to 
test their impact on the environment
                                                  and 
wildlife.

                                                                  
Opposition parties immediately
                                                                  
condemned ministers for the lack of
                                                                  proper 
controls on seeds, and for the
                                                                  delay 
and the low key announcement,
                                                                  made 
through a parliamentary written
                                                                  
answer. The Liberal Democrats'
                                                                  
environment spokesman, David Heath,
                                                                  said 
the delay and the manner in which
                                                                  the 
government announcement had been
                                                                  made 
was deeply disturbing. "It is another
                                                                  
example of the contempt in which the
                                                                  
government holds the British public," he
                                                                  said.

                                                                  The 
Tory spokesman, Tim Yeo, accused
                                                                  the 
government of a "willingness to allow
                                                                  
commercial considerations to override the
                                                                  need 
to protect the British environment".

                                                                  The 
latest embarrassment came a day
                                                                  after 
it emerged tha
                                                    might 
have been contaminated by pollen
                                                                  from 
GM trials.

                                                                  The 
seeds discovery was made during
                                                                  
testing of imported seeds by the German
                                                                  state 
of Baden-Wurttemberg. The
                                                                  
international company responsible,
                                                                  
Advanta Seeds, was informed by one of
                                                                  its 
customers in the state. Its British arm
                                                                  was 
told on April 3, and took steps to
                                                                  stop 
further sales while it began its own
                                                                  
testing; this revealed a GM presence of up
                                                                  to 1% 
in seeds grown in 1998 and sold
                                                                  over 
the past two years.

                                                                  The 
company told government officials on
                                                                  April 
17. It was worried because the GM
                                                                  
oilseed rape which tainted the
                                                                  
conventional seed had no commercial
                                                                  
licences for sales to farmers in Europe,
                                                                  but it 
could not inform its distributors or
                                               
until the government acted.

                                                                  "We 
are absolutely dismayed," said Mike
                                                                  
Ruthven, general manager of Advanta
                                                                  Seeds 
UK. "We are very concerned for
                                                                  
consumers, because of the sensitivity of
                                                                  these 
things. We believe we are
                                                                  
extremely responsible and we are
                                                                  
gobsmacked that this has happened with
                                                                  an 
orthodox crop."

                                                                  He 
said the advice from the government
                                                                  so far 
was that no regulation had been
                                                                  
broken, and there was no threat to health
                                                                  or the 
environment - "although we have
                                                                  had 
some difficulty in getting those
                                                                  
statements".

                                                                  The 
1999 seed crop had not been
                                                                  
contaminated because the company had
                                                                  by 
then moved its seed growing from
                                                                  
Alberta, Canada, to Ontario in eastern
                                                                  
Canada, Montana in the US, and New
                                     
      
Zealand.

                                                                  
Oilseed rape is used in foods such as
                                                                  
margarine and in industrial processes, but
                                                                  the GM 
material that has been available
                                                                  from 
abroad was passed as safe by
                                                                  
government advisers several years ago.

                                                                  The 
seed is also thought to have been
                                                                  used 
on 600 hectares in France, 500 in
                                                                  Sweden 
and 400 in Germany, causing
                                                                  
international embarrassment and
                                                                  
highlighting a lack of international
           

                                                       regulation of 
seed purity.

                                                                  
Baroness Hayman, the agriculture
                                                                  
minister, said there would be new spot
                                                                  checks 
on imports and work with the
                                                                  
industry on a new code of practice: "This
                                                                  is not 
a safety issue... However, the issue
                                                                  of 
seed purity is a serious one."