Plaid Cymru the Party of Wales’ European Leader Jill Evans MEP said today that the UK government can no longer argue that it is unable to act on GM crops under European laws.

This follows a statement by EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne on GMOs in the European Parliament Environment Committee this week. He conceded that EU rules would not prevent the UK from banning GM crops.

Jill Evans, who represents the whole of Wales in the European Parliament, said :

"There is overwhelming opposition to genetically modified foods in Wales. Plaid Cymru’s petition calling upon the Welsh Assembly Government to keep Wales GM-free has had tremendous support.

“These new developments strengthen our case. Labour must now respond to the growing public demand for a GM-free Wales.”

Scientists are expected to report this week that farm scale trials in Britain over the past three years show that GM crops are damaging to plant and insect life, threatening bio-diversity. This could mean that the UK could decide to ban GM crops.

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