Plaid Cymru Deputy Leader Jill Evans MEP hosts a major pan European conference on GM crops at the European Parliament in Brussels today (Wednesday 20 October).

The conference is organised in partnership with the Institute of Science in Society and GM Free Cymru and will feature the publication of the Independent Science Panel Report 'The Case for a GM Free Sustainable World' which concludes that scientific evidence has turned decisively against genetically modified (GM) crops and in favour of non-GM sustainable agriculture.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Jill Evans MEP said:

"This conference and the report published today steps up the pressure on the European Commission to halt its move towards promoting plant biotechnology in Europe. We have known for some time about the massive public opposition to GM Crops, now we see more and more that the science is with us too. The tide of public opinion turned long ago, now the tide of science has turned - how much longer can governments ignore the obvious?"

Speakers at the conference include French farmer and radical anti-GM protester José Bové, representing Confédération Paysanne, Michael Meacher MP, former UK Environment Minister, and Edward Goldsmith, founding editor of The Ecologist.

They will join with scientists to demand that Europe keep its GM-Free status by banning all GM crop releases, and invest instead in non-GM sustainable agriculture. They reject the European Commission-sponsored paper, "Plants for the future" which is promoting plant biotechnology for Europe.

Over eighty people from across the world will attend the conference, organised by the Institute of Science in Society, Independent Science Panel, GM-Free Cymru and Third World Network in conjunction with Jill Evans MEP. Sponsors are Fondation de Terre Humaine, Fondation de Sauve.

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