Nov 21, 2003

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Denmark: European Conference on Coexistence

Coexistence is possible – but at a cost

Interest in the topic was tremendous: about 250 experts from 26 countries took part in the first European Conference on Co-existence of Genetically Modified Crops with Conventional and Organic Crops. Denmark was the first country to present its coexistence strategy, which had been drawn up by an expert panel.

The conference on 13 and 14 November 2003 in Helsingør, Denmark, focused on the practical implementation of the coexistence of GM farming with conventional or organic farming practices that explicitly exclude GM technology. A number of case studies involving maize, cereals and sugar beet were presented.

A Coexistence Strategy for Denmark

Conference delegates learned about the results of a working party set up in 2002 by the Danish Ministry of Agriculture. Its task was to undertake a scientific evaluation of the mechanisms for dispersal between the different agricultural systems and their produce and, based on this, to identify suitable measures for ensuring coexistence – and consequently freedom of choice for consumers and farmers.

The experts’ proposals for a coexistence strategy for Denmark have now been discussed with stakeholder organisations and the general public, and form the basis of a new law due to be passed by the Danish parliament by 2004.

The following measures are recommended by the Danish working group as key to ensuring co-existence:

• Separation distances between fields with GM crops and fields on which conventional or organic crops are grown;
• Buffer zones around the edges of fields – to be cultivated and harvested separately;
• Crop rotation and cropping intervals if GM crops and conventional crops are grown successively on the same field.

Oilseed rape: coexistence could be expensive

Provided the level of GM farming remains “moderate” the Danish working party believes that coexistence is possible in principle for most crops. The proposed standard measures appear to be sufficient to safeguard the continued existence of conventional and organic farming methods.

Coexistence in this context is defined based on the current threshold for GMO contamination. According to this, a 0.9 per cent GMO content is to be tolerated in food and feed. Some argue that organic crops should be completely free from GMOs. However, to achieve a GMO threshold of 0.1 per cent – the detection limit – further measures will be necessary. The technical and financial effort required to safeguard coexistence increases the lower the thresholds for admissible GMO contamination are set and the more widespread GMO farming becomes.

The specific measures required vary from one type of crop to another. The conclusions of the Danish coexistence strategy report are as follows:

• For maize, potatoes, sugar beet, wheat and barley the proposed measures are sufficient to safeguard coexistence within the current thresholds. Stricter thresholds will require additional measures.
• The standard measures are not sufficient to safeguard coexistence for oilseed rape and clover because of their strong tendency to cross-pollinate and the ability of their seeds to persist for long periods in the soil.
• The costs of coexistence measures vary significantly, depending on the type and size of the agricultural business. For silage maize, potatoes and cereals additional costs of up to two per cent can be expected for both conventional and organic farming methods.
• For oilseed rape and sugar beet the additional costs involved in ensuring coexistence are more significant: up to 9 per cent for conventional agriculture and up to 21 per cent for organic farming.
• These predicted additional costs refer to agricultural production only. Throughout the subsequent processing chain further measures will be required to separate produce streams of GM and conventional origin. The additional costs for this are insignificant for sugar but can rise to 24 per cent for wheat used for feed mixes. For frozen food the Danish report estimates additional costs of 6 – 7 per cent.

In order to safeguard coexistence in the long term, the Danish working party highlights the need for further research. Its recommendations include environmental monitoring programmes to accompany the cultivation of GM crops and further development of the rules of “good farming practice” in line with the new framework.