Beckett 'reflects' on mounting dissatisfaction with GM foods

Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett has said that she will "reflect carefully" on the findings of the public debate on GM foods.

The findings of the consultation reveal that more than half of those surveyed were against the introduction of GM crops.

The Secretary of State has given a commitment that the government will make a written response to the report and will indicate what has been learned from the debate when making future policy announcements on GM.

"This debate was a new way of engaging the public in the policy-making process," she said.

"Government provided the funding, and we demonstrated our good faith by appointing an independent steering board to manage the whole process.

"I will reflect carefully on the findings of today's report, along with those of the science review and our costs and benefits study, before publishing our response. We said that we will listen, and we will."

No GM crops can currently be grown commercially in the UK. Several applications for approval of GM crops are under consideration in the European Union, but no decisions will be taken until next year.

The government will base its policy on an objective assessment of all the available information - including the report of the public debate, the GM science review, the costs and benefits study and the results of the farm scale crop evaluations.

(gmcg)