According to the advocacy group GM-Free
Ireland, in mid-October the Irish government
announced a plan to ban the growing of
geneticially modified (GM) crops on the island,
and to introduce a voluntary labeling program
for food made without the use of GM animal feed
(including meat, poultry, eggs, fish,
crustaceans and dairy products).
The move comes as Ireland positions itself as a
global source for GM-free products and has
created a funding scheme to increase organic and
local production. The Proposed Renewed Programme
for Government includes support for organic,
seasonal and direct markets. The President of
the Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association,
Malcolm Thompson, said he was delighted by the
announcement, adding, "The Government's new
GM-free policy is the fulfillment of what we at
ICSA have held for the last five years. I very
much look forward to its full implementation."
According to Michael O'Callaghan of GM-free
Ireland, "The WTO's economic globalization
agenda has forced most Irish farmers to enter an
unwinnable race to the bottom for low quality
GM-fed meat and dairy produce, in competition
with countries like the USA, Argentina and
Brazil which can easily out-compete us with
their highly subsidized GM crop monocultures,
cheap fossil fuel, extensive use of toxic
agrochemicals that are not up to EU standards,
and underpaid migrant farm labor."
The new policy, adopted as part of the Renewed
Programme for Government, was the result of a
coalition agreement between Fianna Faíl and the
Green Party. Unlike similar bans in other
European countries that allow for trial uses of
GM field crops, Ireland's policy will expressly
prohibit the cultivation of any kind of GM
crops.
The island's geographic location and offshore
winds prevent contamination by wind-borne GM
pollen drift, making it an ideal candidate for
such a ban. This, in combination with the rigor
of the new labeling system, will provide a
selling point for Ireland to market GM-free
foods.
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