STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS

"CREATE GMO-FREE ZONES" SAYS NATURAL LAW PARTY

The Natural Law Party called today for the creation of GMO (genetically modified organism) Free Zones by county councils and unitary authorities throughout the UK. This would involve a ban on the use of genetically modified ingredients in meals prepared by all council-run enterprises, including schools, health authority services, and catering for the elderly. A seven-step plan is to be presented to each County Council for their consideration, and a letter sent to all directors of education.

"The genetic modification of food is intrinsically dangerous," says Dr Geoffrey Clements, leader of the Natural Law Party. "It involves making irreversible changes in a random manner to a complex level of life about which little is known. It is inevitable that this hit-and-miss approach will lead to disasters. It must disrupt the natural intelligence of the plant or animal to which it is applied, and lead to health-damaging side-effects. "

"It is completely irresponsible to continue to use GM foods, and particularly to expose our children to these dangers."

The Natural Law Party letter for directors of education calls for a ban on GM food in school meals, and refers to recent press reports of the consideration of an exclusion of genetically modified food by the catering services at the Houses of Parliament. "If our Members of Parliament are to be protected against the risks from these foods, then our children should be protected as well."

Dr Clements congratulated councils who have already taken moves in this direction, including Kent, Torbay, Gloucester, Stockport, and Conway. He also praised Liberal Democrat conference delegates for supporting last week a proposal for a five-year EU-wide moratorium on GM foods. He hoped that this would encourage Liberal Democrat councillors to support the Natural Law Party's proposal for GMO-Free Zones.

Public support

With the growth of public awareness of the issue, opposition to genetically modified foods has increased. A Genewatch/MORI poll carried out in June revealed that :

1. 77% of the British public feel there should be a ban on the growing of GM crops until there has been further assessment of the implications
2. 73% are concerned about genetic pollution
3. 61% (up 8% since December 1996) do not want to eat GM foods
4. 58% (up 7% since December 1996) do not welcome the use of GM in foods

Yet despite public reservations about genetic modification of food, GM ingredients in processed foods are now difficult to avoid.

The Natural Law Party warns that it is important to exclude all genetically modified ingredients, including GM derivatives such as soya oil and lecithin, which are normally not labelled on products.

However, the requirements for labelling are grossly inadequate. New EU regulations will make it mandatory to label less than 5% of food products which have GMO-derived ingredients, i.e. only those containing DNA and protein. Furthermore, meals are often eaten away from the home, in restaurants, public houses, and works canteens, where consumers cannot easily check the ingredients.

"The only safe solution is to make sure that GM foods and crops do not feature at all," says Dr Clements.

In order to help accomplish this, the Natural Law Party is proposing a seven-step plan which will be sent to all County Councils in the UK in the near future. The plan, first presented by the Natural Law Party to Dorset and Hampshire County Councils in August, suggests:

1. The formal declaration of the county to have official "GMO-Free Zone" status after due consideration of the issue by County Council members
2. The stipulation in all County Council school dinner supply contracts that no food ingredients derived from GMOs are permitted (as is now stipulated by Kent County Council)
3. That a prohibition is made on the use of GMO ingredients in all other food supplies purchased by the Council, such as for staff canteens (as has recently been instigated by Torbay District Council in Devon)
4. That a prohibition on the growing of GMO crops is applied to all agricultural land owned by the County Council
5. That the County Council encourages District Councils and other public sector bodies within the County to adopt similar policies
6. That the County Council encourages private sector bodies within the County to adopt similar policies (including food retailers and processors, pubs, restaurants, works canteens, farmers and landowners)
7. That the County Council ensures that its Planning, Estates, Education, and Trading Standards departments have proper resources to monitor the situation in order to ensure that "GMO Free" status is properly maintained by those undertaking to achieve it

"In the absence of a ban on these foods by national government or the EU, we must look to the level of local government to provide protection to the public from what will otherwise be irreversible damage to health and the environment," says Dr Clements. "We hope the announcement of GMO-Free Zones by County Councils throughout the UK will send a powerful signal to the government to respond properly to public opinion on this issue."

In addition to County Councils, the Natural Law Party will be approaching other groups as well, including restaurant associations, hoteliers, and others in the food industry. "This is an issue about which many people feel strongly, and we anticipate that the concept of GMO-Free Zones will meet with much support," says Dr Clements.

Consciousness solution

The Natural Law Party is now established in over 60 countries, and has been campaigning worldwide since 1995 for a ban on the introduction of genetically modified foods because of the grave risks they pose to human health and the environment. The Party advocates the use of natural, sustainable agricultural methods, and, in particular, urges the adoption of the completely safe and effective technologies from Maharishi's Vedic Science that harness rather than disrupt the intelligence of Nature. In the last general election, nine million leaflets were delivered to British households inviting voters to join the campaign.

For a permanent solution to the GM foods crisis, the Natural Law Party emphasises the need to increase positivity and integration in collective consciousness of the country and the world. The NLP regards the current GM foods crisis as fundamentally arising from the inability of individuals, businesses, and government to think and act in accord with Natural Law and make wise decisions of benefit to the best interests of society as a whole. For this reason, the main focus of the Natural Law Party remains the introduction of well-researched and tested programmes to generate coherence and positivity in collective consciousness, since this alone will fully protect the public from the development and application of potentially damaging technologies such as genetic engineering.