27 February 2007 - Defra gave approval in December for the company BASF to undertake research trials of a GM potato at two sites in England, one in Cambridgeshire and the other in Derbyshire.
BASF has now notified Defra that, instead of the previously intended site in Derbyshire, it proposes to conduct trials at a new location in Yorkshire.
Defra will be considering this as a new application in accordance with the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations 2002. But before deciding on this it will consider any representations that people may wish to make about the risk of environmental damage posed by the GM trial. The deadline for representations is 20 April 2007. The new location is in the District of East Yorkshire, at ordnance survey grid reference TA1729.
The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) has made an initial assessment of this proposed change in location. It has provisionally concluded that it does not affect its earlier opinion, that the trials do not raise any safety concerns for human health and the environment.
1. Details of the proposed new trial site and an invitation to make public representations will be posted on the Defra website.
2. The original consent granted to BASF for the GM potato trials (ref: 06/R42/01), and ACRE 's advice on the original BASF application.
3. As required by Defra, BASF will be informing the relevant local authority in Yorkshire about the proposed GM trial in its area. BASF has placed an advert in the Times today to highlight the new trial location and to indicate that representations can be made to Defra. (The grid reference published in the Times today was incorrect, (this referred to TL1729 instead of the correct TA1729), BASF will be placing an amended advert highlighting correct site details in the Times on Thursday.
4. The GM potato has been developed by BASF for resistance to late potato blight, a significant disease problem for potato growers which they normally combat by using chemical fungicides. The trials will test the effectiveness of the potato's resistance against UK strains of the disease. Similar trials are already underway in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands .
5. The existing consent that Defra has issued to BASF specifies appropriate conditions to ensure that no GM potato material enters the food or animal feed.