Press release

Action taken to prevent spread of unauthorised GM presence in soya bean

Defra has established that seed from the same batch has been sown in a small trial of soya beans in West Sussex.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 23 July 2010

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The French agricultural testing authorities have detected, before sowing, a low level of unauthorised GM presence in seed of a conventional soya bean variety.

Defra has established that seed from the same batch has been sown in a small trial of soya beans in West Sussex. The trial plots are being destroyed before the plants flower and set seed, as a precautionary measure. There is therefore no risk to adjacent crops or the wider environment. No other seed of the potentially affected variety has been sown in the UK.

Published 23 July 2010