The growing of GM pharmaceutical (pharma) crops has recently been promoted as the latest saving grace of Icelandic agriculture that may provide substantial financial benefit and create jobs. There are already plans for such crops to be grown and one Icelandic biotech company has been granted a government licence for outdoor crop trials of GM barley that will be developed for the production of pharmaceutical and industrial products. In other words, GMOs have been released into the Icelandic nature.

The working group of the Information Campaign on GMOs, together with the internationally respected molecular scientist dr. Michael Antoniou of King´s College London, has recently met with institutions and stakeholders who are associated with GM issues to explore the preconditions and the main purpose of the GM plans in Iceland, the safety of technology used in the GM process, government policies, and whether potential environmental and health impacts have been properly addressed.

The preliminary findings of those meetings are as follows:
- A wide ranging consensus is evidently existing on the need for a proper national debate on GMOs, their benefits and drawbacks, and risks associated with their use.
- Plans of the Ministry of Environment to work with other Nordic nations towards a common Nordic policy on GMOs should be welcomed. In that respect, one should look towards the experience of Norway regarding the regulatory process and Denmark where there has been a national debate on the future policy on the use of GMOs.
- However, it is a cause for concern how far behind its European neighbour countries Iceland is standing with regard to regulation on the release of GMOs into the environment. At present, Iceland is the only European country which does not require producers to label GM food, but according to government sources this will probably change later in the year. Recent Gallup poll indicates that over 90% of the public consider the labelling of GM food necessary and 65% are opposed to the production of GM food.
- Given the relations of public agencies to GM projects there are questions about whether objectivity is observed in public policy, licencing and monitoring of GMOs. It is important that government agencies in this area are seen to be objective and independent.
- The government does not have a clear policy as regards the informing of the public about the location of GM crop trials and crop production, as far as such crops are allowed outdoors.
- Licences for outdoor GM pharma crop trials in Iceland are based on very limited research of the potential environmental impact of such crops. Containment studies are confined to examining cross-pollination and seed drift, while other potential environmental effects have not been studied.
- Possible health effects of the GM pharma barley have not been studied, and merely relied on unsubstantiated speculation.

Following the meetings of the Information Campaign on GMOs and dr. Michael Antoniou with the various agencies and stakeholders, the concerns put forward by the Campaign on the release and growing of GM crops have been strengthened.

Dr. Antoniou stresses that GM pharma and industrial crops - if allowed - must be grown in contained conditions (f.e. greenhouses), that plants used for feed or food are not used, and that strict public inspection and monitoring procedures are introduced, to prevent possible mixing of those products with animal feed and human food or effects on the sensitive Icelandic environment.

The Campaign calls for a wide ranging national dabate and public policy on those issues prior to any further development, where all their aspects, i.e. economic, environmental, health, ethical and social factors are taken into account.

Press release from the Icelandic Information Campaign on GMOs 6.7.2005.