Contaminated GM crops found at nine Thai farms
Agence France Presse, 21 September 2004

BANGKOK : Thailand said on Tuesday that at least nine farms had been contaminated by genetically-modified crops after a seed selling scandal shut down a major part of the country's GM testing programme.
Three testing centres were closed last week after the government conceded that its controls had failed to stop GM seeds from spreading to a non-GM papaya farm in the country's northeast.
Environmentalists claimed that the contamination was much more widespread and agriculture officials said on Tuesday ongoing testing had shown up 41 GM samples from nine farmers.
Critics, who have blamed the contamination on papaya seeds sold to 2,600 farmers by a state-run GM experimental farm at Khon Kaen in the country's northeast, have warned of potential harmful environmental and health effects.
An investigation panel has been set up to look into the contamination but nobody has been sacked over what environmentalists say could be one of the worst GM crop contamination scandals in Asia.
"From 1,164 samples collected from farmers, scientific tests have found 41 (GM) samples from nine farmers," said agriculture minister Somsak Thepsuthin, in a statement. He said he expected 1,300 samples more samples would be tested by the end of the month.
The minister said further DNA tests were needed to prove if the government's experimental site was the source of the contamination.
After the scandal came to light, the Thai government said that GM work could only be continued in laboratories but has stopped short of abandoning the entire GM research programme.
The research project at Khon Kaen, a joint programme between the Thais and a team from Cornell University in the US, was designed to develop papaya resistant to the ringspot virus. It was due to finish next year.
The programme met with fierce criticism from environmentalists who accused the government of pushing ahead with tests before enough research was done on the potential effects of GM crops.
Thai law forbids the public sale of GM seeds but government moves to ease restrictions surrounding GM crops were hastily dropped earlier this month after public protests amid accusations that the government was bowing to pressure from the US.
The United States is the world's biggest GM producer but has struggled to persuade other nations to accept the products.
However in Asia, the Philippines and China already have huge plantations producing GM crops such as corn and cotton. - AFP
Copyright © 2004 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.