Consultation on labelling GM seeds – updated guidance from GM Freeze

Last week we contacted our members and supporters to urge them to respond to a DEFRA consultation on whether new GM seeds (dubbed ‘precision bred’ by the Westminster government) will be labelled. We pointed out that, although the consultation questions are focussed on business impacts the outcome will affect everyone who buys seeds. It will also impact whoever they grow food for – be they customers, communities, friends or families.

The response was overwhelming. The public consultation, you told us, was not for the public. It was difficult to reply as someone who does not own a business. But the co-existence of non-GM food in our supply chains is everyone’s business. 

Yesterday we complained on your behalf o the DEFRA Plant Varieties and Seeds division, Minister Daniel Zeichner and Secretary of State Steve Reed. We pointed out that one section of the document is entitled “The purpose of a public consultation”. Surely the primary purpose of a public consultation is to elicit the views of the public, not to dissuade them from responding!

“Millions of UK citizens grow food – in their gardens, allotments and even in public spaces,” said our Director Leonie Nimmo in a Press Release. “These people are doing their bit to reduce the carbon impacts of our country’s food consumption and build resilience into our food system. They clearly care about what they put in their mouths and in the soil, yet DEFRA is treating them as a complete irrelevance. It’s insulting.”

As a result of the feedback, we have also updated our guidance on completing the consultation, which include suggestions for what to say if you get put off by the focus on business impacts. For example:

• “I am in the business of growing food for my family and my community, this will impact us by…”
• “I am in the business of buying food from my local veg box supplier, this will impact us by…”
• “I want to be able to access organic and non-GM food, this question is my business because…”
• “I support organic businesses, and this question is my business because…”

It is vitally important that we call for the seeds of all GMOs to be labelled, to protect the integrity of the non-GMO sector. Please take a moment to respond. 

• A link to the consultation is here.
• If you want to read the full questions before you begin, follow this link to the pdf.
• Our updated guidance is here.

We tried

The consultation on new GMO seeds comes hot on the heels of the deregulation of new GMO plants, food and feed. In February the government laid Regulations that will operationalise the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023. On the 1st of April these were passed by the House of Commons without even a mention.

Many of us have fought hard to prevent this. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but new GM plants will be in our fields and diets soon. The one remaining issue that is not yet a done deal is the labelling of new GM seeds, right at the very start of the supply chain.

In the words of Lawrence Woodward, Director of Beyond GM and a major force in the organic sector over the decades, it’s the only thing we have left.