March 10, 2011

EU's GM ban may result in livestock drop

EU's ban on genetically-modified (GM) food is likely to see a drop in the volume of livestock kept in the West Country, MP Neil Parish warned.

Meat stocks would be then imported from countries where GM-fed animals were kept as a matter of course.

Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, was the keynote speaker at the National Office for Animal Health (NOAH) Conference held at the Royal Society in London.

A former MEP and chairman of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, Parish is now a member of the all-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. He outlined issues associated with population growth and the need to increase food production.

He said, "We are now six and half billion people. We shall go up to nine billion by 2050. In this world, where we are seeing climate change and many countries drying up and getting hotter, there is no doubt that Britain and northern parts of Europe will need to play their fair share."

He said, "The majority of protein that we feed our animals comes from countries growing GM soya and in fact most of the meat that we import is reared on GM products. If we are not careful, all we shall do is export our industry and then we shall get the same meat imported into Britain fed on something we have banned for use in the UK."

This year's NOAH conference was about the role animal medicines would play in feeding the world and meeting the challenges of population growth and climate change. The conference was chaired by vet Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. The projected worldwide growth in human demand for protein must be met by developments in animal medicine, he said. There must be appropriate regulation that protects human health and animal health and welfare.