Friends of the Earth, Access Info Europe, COAG, Rural Seed Network Platform and have posted the map with the exact location of field trials with GM. The Government has provided information to organizations later, when most of the experiments have been completed. The outdoor experiments with transgenic crops have high environmental and health risks, as reported in a press release. Given the numerous cases of contamination worldwide organizations are asking the government for greater transparency and rigor around GM. Spain has become the testing ground of the multinationals because the Government has hidden their exact location. So Spain hosts 67% of all experiments performed in Europe, Castilla y León destancando that has hosted most of them.
While other European countries publish this information on official websites, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment has hidden this information for many years. "Transparency is essential for a serious debate on the use of transgenic occurs. In providing the information late the Government has failed to comply with the Aarhus Convention and the law of access to environmental information, "said Victoria Anderica Access-Info Europe.
80% of requests for experimentation in Spain are conducted by multinational companies, Bayer in the lead with sixteen applications, followed by Monsanto and KWS six experiments each. "Both Bayer and Monsanto have a known history of contamination scandals: in 2006 was Bayer rice which invaded the food chain, this year it was the turn of Monsanto, responsible for the case of contamination with wheat turned upside down the world wheat market last summer, "said Blanca Ruibal Almentación for Agriculture and Friends of the Earth
Most of the experiments in 2012 and 2013 sought by biotech companies have taken place in unknown locations of Castilla y León, many with transgenic beet. "The beet growing is very important in the region. The farmers do not want GM beet experiments, if our crops would have serious problems to market our production are contaminated, "said Losada Priscillian, Technical Secretary, COAG Castilla y León.
The risk of contamination is very high in the case of sugar beet, because it is a plant whose pollen reaches great distances. Although not native, feral populations exist in many areas beet.
"GM does not benefit the country. A living countryside is only possible with a friendly farming environment, diverse and small scale. Transgenic represent the opposite pattern, only benefit large multinationals while the farmers have to leave the field, "said Jerome Rural Aguado Platform.
The organizations also denounced the absence of information from the Ministries of Agriculture of the Autonomous Communities have the right to approve the conduct of experimental fields in their territories. Its management is characterized as the central government for opacity. Organizations demand that law enforcement this information is published directly by the administration
