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Greenpeace Alert: First Contamination Report Reveals Worldwide Illegal Spread of Genetically Engineered Crops

The first report into the extent to which genetically engineered organisms have ‘leaked’ into the environment - released today - reveals a disturbing picture of widespread contamination, illegal planting and negative agricultural side effects.

The report is a summary of incidents uncovered by the on-line Contamination Register (1) set up by Greenpeace and GeneWatch UK. It reveals a catalogue of highly disturbing incidents right across the world, including:

• Pork meat from genetically engineered pigs being sold to consumers
• Ordinary crops being contaminated with GE crops containing pharmaceuticals
• Growing and international distribution of illegal antibiotic resistant Maize seeds
• Planting of outlawed GE crops which have been smuggled into countries
• Mixing of unapproved GE crops in food, including shipments of food aid
• Inadvertent mixing of different GE strains even in high profile scientific field trials

The report reveals 113 such cases worldwide, involving 39 countries - twice as many countries as are officially allowed to grow GM crops since they were first commercialised in 1996. Worryingly, the frequency of these cases is increasing, with 11 countries affected in 2005 alone. Contamination has even been found in countries conducting supposedly ”carefully controlled” high-profile farm-scale evaluations, such as the UK. “This may well only be the tip of the iceberg, as there is no official global or national contamination register so far,” said Dr. Sue Mayer of GeneWatch UK, who leads the team of investigators. “Most incidents of contamination are actually kept as confidential business information by companies as well as public authorities.”

Full report: Biosafety Protocol 2006
GM Contamination Register