'If a register exists for sewage sludge, then one is certainly needed for GM crops'

Welcoming the recent report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) which pointed out that land used for GM crops could fall in value and called for a GMO land register, the Natural Law Party has highlighted an important mechanism for how such a GM land register could work, using the precedent provided by the existing land register for sewage sludge.

Dr James Brewster, the Natural Law Party's agriculture spokesman, said: 'Whilst there are potential risks associated with sewage sludge applications, the risks associated with GMOs are a greater cause for public concern and are at this stage harder to estimate. If a a land registration system is warranted for sludge applications, then a similar system should be required for GM crops.'

The land register for sewage sludge, which is kept by the water authorities, records all land that has ever been subjected to sewage sludge treatment. Code numbers are allocated to the farm, the field in question, and to each five-hectare subdivision of the field. Some water authorities are developing a procedure whereby the records are linked to a digital mapping system. Records are kept indefinitely, with no records ever being deleted.

According to the Natural law Party, a GM crop register could be operated in a similar way, so that any field where GM crops have been grown remains on the register. And because of the special implications of GM crops for neighbouring landowners - risks of cross pollination, or spreading of herbicide resistant weeds etc. - the Natural Law Party recommends strongly that the GM register would be open to public inspection.

There is already a register of GM crop field trials, but until the recent RICS proposal, there has been no promise of a register of GM crops if they are to be commercially grown.

Natural Law Party is campaigning for a ban on GM foods Dr Brewster said: 'The Natural Law Party is campaigning for a complete ban on GM foods and crops, and last October called on local councils to institute GMO-free zones in their area. Until such a ban is in force, however, we want to make sure that there is a proper system that allows the public to find out whether any given piece of land is GMO-free.'

The Natural Law Party welcomes recent moves by the major supermarkets to remove GM ingredients from their own brands, and takes credit for being the first political party to campaign for a ban on GM foods. The Party has been lobbying MPs, local authorities and supermarkets and informing the public on this issue since March 1996.