GMO-free europe

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National: The Welsh Assembly has adopted a GM-free policy.
Regions:Four Councils in Scotland have declared themselves GMO-free.
Municipalities: 60 areas in England have declared themselves GMO-free.

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Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland launched the GM-free Britain campaign in October 2002 involving particularly their local groups, but increasingly also other community groups.

GM-free Britain map: Green = GM-free; Yellow = Partially GM-free, Grey = No decision; Red = GM

A number of resources have been produced enabling groups to lobby their local government to declare themselves GMO-free, including campaign action guides, press material, in-depth briefings, as well as promotion material like posters, leaflets and stickers.

An interactive map has been set up by Friends of the Earth that enables people to

1. check which areas have gone GMO-free
2. find out which groups in their area exist that are campaigning for a GM-free Britain
3. email their local council asking them to support the campaign and become a GM-Free Area.

At the end of 2003 106 local Friends of the Earth groups and 47 non-Friends of the Earth groups were signed up to the campaign.

In February 2004 the Welsh and Scottish executive blocked the go-ahead for the first GM crop in Britain, a strain of GM maize called Chardon LL or T25 and patented by Bayer. The Welsh executive has pointed out that UK regulations stipulate that a particular crop can be grown in one country only if the other two agree.

Please check the pages England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales for more information.

Contact

Friends of the Earth
Liz Wright
phone: +44 - 113 242 8153
email: lizw@foe.co.uk
website: www.foe.co.uk/