Interview: The current and future status of GM technology: Interview with Dr Sandy Thomas, Director of the Nuffield Coun
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ex K. Pavlou Datamonitor plc, Charles House, 108-110 Finchley Road, London, NW3 5JJ, UK Tel: +44 (0) 20 7675 7000 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7675 7500 E-mail: [email protected]
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Interview The current and future status of GM technology: Interview with Dr Sandy Thomas, Director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Alex K. Pavlou Date received: 19th January, 2004
Dr Thomas, thank you very much for inviting me to your office today. Can you please give a brief description of the current status of GM crop technology? Genetic modification (GM) is a technology used very widely now as a tool in plant breeding. Crops which have been developed, particularly for markets in which GM is approved, are very much based on using this kind of approach. It is difficult to get a feeling for how much GM technology in crops might be used in Europe in the future – at the moment we are not currently growing any crops for harvesting. Of course there are a number of experimental outdoor trials going on. Very recently for example, there was the conclusion of the farmscale trials sponsored by a number of organisations to evaluate the environmental impact of three GM crops. In general GM technology should be seen very much as a tool and another way of moving genes around. It has been applied in several countries, such as the USA, and there are a number of leading research institutes around the world which use GM technology to try and solve agronomic problems in developing countries. Twenty-seven per cent of the global GM crops area is in the
developing world of which a main part represents Bt cotton1 in China. What our report2 suggests is that there is a great deal of caution in those countries about adopting the technology because there is worry that it may affect future export markets.
Can we discuss this caution in more depth? It is very difficult to be clear about the influences on developing countries that have led some of them to be so cautious in adopting GM technology and applying it to improve their agriculture. The ramifications of the GM debate in Europe have really been very considerable and we have seen this very well illustrated in the case of the food aid controversy in some parts of Africa, eg Zambia. So, there is little doubt – as our report has concluded – that the GM debate in Europe and the rejection of GM technology by European consumers has influenced policy making in Asia and Africa. They can see that these products are not wanted by EU consumers as the EU authorities have placed very strict regulations for imports from other countries that may contain GM.
& HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1478-565X. J O U R N A L O F C O M M E R C I A L B I O T E C H N O L O G Y . VOL 10. NO 3. 268–272. MARCH 2004
Interview with Dr Sandy Thomas
Do you think that this strict regulatory system could possibly make Europe a highly protectionist environment with a closed market? It would be very difficult for developing countries in general to be able to meet the standards for traceability and the labelling regimes that are demanded for impor
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