Friday, 11th April 2008
Rules need to be relaxed
Struan Stevenson MEP has said that Scottish farmers are being hampered by the “madness” of EU regulation, and must be allowed to produce genetically modified food to help them compete with other farmers on a global scale.
Speaking at the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association in Inverurie ton Friday 11th April, Mr Stevenson said:
"It is madness that we apply more stringent red tape and regulation to our own EU producers than we apply to our competitors outside the EU. Our farmers are bound hand and foot by red tape and yet we import vast quantities of foodstuffs produced under welfare and hygiene conditions that would constitute a criminal offence in the UK.
“We must relax the rules on bio-technology and ignore the FRANKENSTEIN FOODS headlines. The reality is that GM foods are harmless and point the way to overcoming global food shortages in the future.
"Food security in Europe means looking after our home production and not always handing a commercial advantage to our non-EU competitors."
