IRELAND'S POLICY ON "CO-EXISTENCE" OF GM CROPS
This page provides information on the "Report on Coexistence of GM and non-GM crops in Ireland" published on 7 December 2005 by Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan – almost a year after the controversial deadline of 31 December 2004 which prevented the majority of stakeholders (including the GM-free Ireland Network) from participating!
When the report was finally published on 7 December 2005, Mary Coughlan set the deadline for stakeholders to submit "observations" at 31 January 2006, 7 weeks after the report's publication (with Christmas in between).
Following pressure from the GM-free Ireland Network, the Dept. of Agriculture extended the deadline to 31 March 2006, through the following announcement on 14 February 2006:
"The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan T.D., announced today that, following receipt of a number of requests, she was extending the closing date to 31 March 2006 for observations on the 'Report on Coexistence of GM and non-GM Crops in Ireland' and its Recommendations from all interested parties.
The Report can be accessed on the Department's website at http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/gm_coexistence and submissions and observations should be sent in hard copy format to Mr John Downey, Crop Production and Safety Division, Department of Agriculture and Food, Maynooth, Co. Kildare or by email to john.downey@agriculture.gov.ie on or before 31 March 2006."
All stakeholder groups (including members of the GM-free Ireland Network): please share your submissions and related documents by sending them to this address so we can post them on this page.
See our main co-existence page for related information.
Report on Coexistence of GM and non-GM crops in Ireland
published by Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan on 7 December 2005:
Introduction (176KB PDF file).
Report (764KB PDF file).
Appendix 1 (116KB PDF file).
Appendix 2 (184KB PDF file).
Appendix 3 (252KB PDF file).
Appendix 4 (20KB PDF file).
Appendix 5 (40KB PDF file).
Appendix 5-1 (36KB PDF file).
Appendix 6a (1MB PDF file).
Appendix 6b (1.1MB PDF file).
Appendix 6c (764KKB PDF file).
Appendix 6d (448KB PDF file).
Appendix 6e (268KB PDF file).
Appendix 6f (424KB PDF file).
Appendix 6g (864KB PDF file).
Appendix 6h (708KB PDF file).
Department of Agriculture and Food press release, 7 December 2005:
The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan T.D., announced today that she was publishing the 'Report on Coexistence of GM and non-GM Crops in Ireland' and inviting observations from interested parties. The Report is now available on the Department's website. A hard copy has been sent to stakeholders who made submissions to the Working Group which prepared the Report.
The Report was compiled by an Interdepartmental Working Group comprised of representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Food, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency. The remit of the Group, which commenced its work in August 2003, was to examine issues relating to the coexistence of authorised GM crops alongside non GM crops and to develop proposals for a national strategy and best practices in Ireland. In drawing up the Report the Group considered submissions from many interested stakeholders.
Minister Coughlan said that since October 2001, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers have introduced a series of new legislative measures for the evaluation, approval, control and monitoring of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). This legislation is binding on all Member States and is aimed at ensuring that the highest standards of food safety and environmental protection are in place within the EU.
Under EU Directive 2001/18/EC there is a requirement on Member States to draw up their own national strategies for the coexistence of authorised GM crops alongside non GM crops, in accordance with the guidelines laid down in Commission Recommendation 2003/556/EC. Minister Coughlan stressed that coexistence was not about possible environmental or health risks associated with GMOs.ìCoexistence is about creating conditions during cultivation, harvest, transport and storage of crops which make it possible for conventional and organic growers to keep the adventitious presence of GMOs in their crops below the labelling thresholds established in Community law while ensuring that farmers who want to grow authorised GM crops can do soî said the Minister.
The Minister said that she was now inviting further observations on the Report and its Recommendations from all interested parties. ìI will take these observations into account before putting in place coexistence arrangements for Ireland, as is required under the EU legislationî said Minister Coughlan.
The Report can be accessed on the Department's website at www.agriculture.gov.ie/gm_coexistence and submissions and observations should be sent in hard copy format to Mr John Downey, Crop Production and Safety Division, Department of Agriculture and Food, Maynooth, Co. Kildare or by email to john.downey@agriculture.gov.ie on or before 31 January 2006.
