No One Will Insure GM Crops 

PRESS RELEASE / farm (UK) 7oct03

A survey of the principle insurance underwriters in the UK, carried out by farm, found that neither farmers considering growing GM crops or non-GM farmers seeking to protect their businesses from contamination by GM crops would be able to find anyone willing to give them insurance.

The survey conducted by farm staff and working farmer members revealed a level of opposition from companies taking on the risks of insuring GM crops, comparable to the public’s hostility to purchasing and eating them.

Insurance company spokespeople compared GM crops to ‘Thalidomide’, ‘Asbestos’ and ‘Acts of Terrorism’.

All the companies surveyed felt that too little was known about the long term effects of growing these crops on human health and the environment to be able to offer any form of cover: 

“50 years ago insurers were writing policies for asbestos without a care in the world – now they are facing claims of hundreds of millions of pounds. The insurance industry has learned to be wary of new things, and there is a real feeling that GM could come back and bite you in 5 years time”, said one company spokesperson.

National Coordinator, Robin Maynard said, 

‘When insurers quantify GM crops in the same category as thalidomide, asbestos and terrorism, no thinking farmer should risk their business and public reputation by taking on this unproven, unwanted and unnecessary technology.

Time and time again, farmers have borne the brunt of someone else’s mistakes or short-cuts – BSE, organophosphates, salmonella etc. It’s time farmers got out of the firing line and let those seeking to force GM crops into our fields and onto supermarket shelves take the flak.

If Government and their friends in the Biotech. companies dispute the judgement of the professional insurers, perhaps they will offer unlimited cover to the few farmers willing to risk growing GM crops? In addition, for both farmers and consumers, they need to guarantee, what the insurers clearly believe isn’t possible, that GM-crops can be grown without contaminating the crops of the majority of farmers who want to remain GM-free.’

The survey is released in conjunction with afarm briefing, ‘GM Crops – sorting the Wheat from the Chaff’, which sets out the facts about GM crops as they will affect practical, working farmers and the markets they produce for - if the Government gives the go-ahead for commercial planting in the UK.

For further information contact: Freddie Whitefield 0207 349 5833 Robin Maynard 0207 349 5832/07932 040452

A number of the working farmer members of farm have direct experience of the issues surrounding GM and agriculture and are available for interview.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. farm staff and farmer members contacted the five main underwriters and brokers for farm insurance in the UK, asking what their current standpoint on GM was and whether there was any provision for changing this, if commercialisation was approved. Individual brokers were unable to offer any clarification to our farmers as to their options and liabilities and referred us on to the main companies.

Summary of results and some notes on the comments made by the spokespersons for each company:

AIUA (Agricultural Insurance Underwriters Agency) (Norwich Union/Sun Alliance) 
Have an exclusion clause for liability arising from GM crops. Do not anticipate any change in position. Spokesperson said that the reason for this was that they had no idea what the long term effects might be. There is such a degree of uncertainty surrounding the potential risks, and the effects could take generations to manifest.

Rural Insurance Group (Lloyds) 
Also have a set exclusion clause – putting GM crops in the same bracket as ‘acts of terrorism’. The reason they have this is because they have no track record which they are willing to base assessments of risk on. They feel there is too much fear surrounding the topic. Whenever it comes on TV, it raises fears of mass problems associated with contamination. The insurance companies have learned to be cautious about new things.

BIB Underwriters Limited (AXA)
Have set exclusion clause which was amended within the last year, and will continue to apply if commercialisation is approved. Basically they would turn down any policy that has any association with GM. So that would include farm buildings and property insurance as well as public liability. The reason for this is that alongside the problems of cross contamination, they envisage problems associated with arson or vandalism due to anti-GM protestors.

NFU Mutual 
Have had a policy for some time now that they will not provide insurance for farmers choosing to grow GM crops. Unless there is a serious increase in the quality of available information there will be no change in their standpoint. They believe that the risks are not fully understood. They cannot see this position changing in the near future despite the proximity of possible contamination. Their recommendation to farmers considering growing these crops is to approach the industry/seed companies and obtain some liability insurance through them.

Business combined Policy Endorsements Part A 030A Genetically Modified crops “NFU Mutual will not indemnify the insured in respect of any liability arising from the production, supply of or presence on the premises of any genetically modified crop, where liability may be attributed directly or indirectly to the genetic characteristics of the crop. In particular, no indemnity will be provided in respect of liability arising from the spread or the threat of spread of genetically modified organism characteristics into the environment or any change to the environment arising from research into, testing of or production of genetically modified organisms”

Farm Web Are currently reviewing their position on this in light of the positions taken by Re-insurance companies and developments in the EU. At the moment they do not have a set statement but say they would have to consider each case on its own context.

Quotes from insurance spokespeople collected by researcher during survey:

“The worry is that GM could be like Thalidomide – only after some time would the full extent of the problems be seen”

“50 years ago they were writing policies for asbestos without a care in the world. Now they are faced with bills of hundreds of millions. There is a feeling that GM could come back and bite you in five years time.”

“If a farmer approached us with any kind of insurance policy relating to a farm associated with GM we would have to refuse their application – whatever the kind of insurance applied for.”

2. A number of the working farmer Board members of FARM have direct experience of the issues surrounding GM and agriculture.

• Lincolnshire dairy farmer, John Turner was unable to grow a lucrative crop of maize silks due to the threat of contamination from a neighboring GM trial site. In the absence of any form of insurance against the risk of contamination, the only option for the farmer was not to grow any plants that could be vulnerable to cross-pollination. The financial impact of these precautionary measures has been calculated to be of the order of £2,500.
• John Sanderson, an arable and beef farmer from Suffolk, hit the headlines three years ago when he was the first farmer in the country to plough in the GM contaminated oilseed rape which he had inadvertently planted on 27 acres after the government failed to notify farmers in time about the contamination. The GM-contaminated seed had been sown on over 30,000 acres in the UK, and following public and media pressure, was all eventually destroyed.
• Lincolnshire arable farmer, Peter Lundgren fought a trial site proposed next to his farm. He has also visited the US to see the effects of GM crops first hand, and helped produce a detailed critique exposing exaggerated claims of cost savings by Brooms Barn Research Station on the economics of growing GM Sugar Beet.

All three farmers are available for interview. Photos are also available.

3. To obtain a copy of farm's GM briefing please contact Freddie Whitefield on 0207 349 5833 or at info@farm.org.uk

The survey and briefing come out at a critical time for the Government’s decision on whether or not to give the go-ahead for commercial planting of GM crops in the UK. The results of the Government’s Field Scale Evaluations of GM crops are due to be published next week. Leaked accounts suggest that the evaluations found that 2 of the 3 GM crops first proposed for commercialization show negative impacts on the environment. This study follows on from overwhelming public hostility to GM crops confirmed by the GM Nation debate and the lack of any short-term economic benefits identified by the No 10 Strategy Unit report.

source: http://www.farm.org.uk/FM_Content.aspx?ID=138 7oct03

our mission
farm is a campaigning and membership organisation, fighting for a viable future for independent and family farms.

We exist to protect and promote the interests of farmers, to get their voices heard by decision-makers, and to campaign for a positive future for farming, rural communities and the countryside.

source: http://www.farm.org.uk/FM_About.aspx 7oct03

who we are
farm’s founding members: Peter Lundgren, the son of a Sussex dairy farmer, farms 95 acres in Lincolnshire, growing wheat, sugar beet and potatoes, as well as running a more profitable retail business with his wife. He believes that many of the farming industry’s problems are symptoms of a deeper malaise: the division between consumers and farmers. He sees farm as different in its positive, outward looking approach: bringing farmers and consumers together to fight for a viable future for the countryside.

• John Sanderson farms 450 acres in Suffolk, growing wheat, sugar beet, oilseed rape and peas (for Birds Eye), with permanent pasture supporting a herd of pedigree beef cattle. He recently opened a visitor centre and tea shop on his farm, and has won awards for conservation and public access. He sees the role of farm as two-fold: making people aware that the whole culture of farming is under threat, and working to create a positive vision of the way forward for farming - here in the UK and internationally.
• John Sherrell farms a 180 acre mixed farm with his parents in Devon. They keep dairy and beef herds, raise chickens for free range eggs, and grow barley, oats and triticale, as well as keeping permanent pasture and woodlands. He sees farm as having an important campaigning role on issues like farmgate prices, as well as a positive role in recreating the need for strong interdependence between farmers, consumers and the environment.
• John Turner farms 250 acres in the South West corner of Lincolnshire with his brother and their parents, producing organic milk, some cereals, sugarbeet and medicinal herbs. He sees farm's main objective as bringing together consumers, environmentalists and farmers to build a future for family and independent farms which upholds the values and principles that have helped make agriculture such an important part of the countryside.
• Zac Goldsmith is Editor of The Ecologist magazine, and a respected commentator on environment and sustainable development issues. Zac owns a mixed farm in Devon. Outraged at the Government's refusal to hold a full public inquiry into the Foot and Mouth crisis, he supported the 2001 legal challenge in the High Court.
• Jon Cracknell manages farm's fundraising activities, and helped to secure its seedcorn funding. Jon brings considerable experience of supporting and working with grassroots groups campaigning in the UK, the rest of Europe, and the USA.
• farm staff: Robin Maynard, farm's National Coordinator, is an experienced campaigner. Robin worked for 14 years at Friends of the Earth on countryside and agriculture issues, and as a reporter for BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today. Although not from a farming background, as a student he worked at an agricultural merchants and farm in the Derbyshire Peak District.
• Helen Angell, farm's Membership Systems & Office Manager, and Freddie Whitefield farm's Research & Policy Officer

Our two new staff members will enable farm to service its members and deliver more outputs, more effectively. More about them and their roles and remit in the near future. Both are delighted to be working with farm and its Farmer Members and Supporters, campaigning for a viable future for farming and rural communities.

source: http://www.farm.org.uk/FM_About.aspx?CID=18 7oct03

farm
PO Box 26094
London
SW10 0XZ
Tel: 020 7352 7928
Email: info@farm.org.uk
Company registration no 4470260