EUROPE has by far the strictest rules for the approval of genetically modified crops, but are they enough? Firms developing GM crops have to go the extra mile to convince regulators that they won鈥檛 damage human health or the environment 鈥� and that鈥檚 as it should be. Trials completed in 2003 showed that two herbicide-resistant GM crops were worse for farmland wildlife than their conventional counterparts.
The most damaging aspect of growing these varieties was not the genetic modification itself, but the way farmers applied weedkillers. Now, as we report on page 10, a similar crop has been developed without the use of GM 鈥� yet it won鈥檛 have to undergo special trials to test the effects growing it will have on wildlife. This is illogical. Why not regulate all crops the same way?
