The government's public debate on GM issues was launched today, with the environmentalist group Friends of the Earth calling on the public to voice its opposition to the use of genetically modified foods.

Friends of the Earth also called on the government to make it clear that GM crop commercialisation "will not take place against the wishes of the public".

The group has claimed that it has a leaked report indicating that the government wants to opt out of labelling genetically modified foods – currently under debate in Brussels – to avoid a fall out from Washington.

Friends of the Earth's GM campaigner Pete Riley said: "These crops potentially pose a long-term threat to our food, farming and the environment.

"But the government must also make it clear that this debate is more than a PR exercise by promising to refuse to allow GM crops to be commercially grown if that's what the public want."

The proposal to promote a national debate on GM came from the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) in their report 'Crops on Trial' published in September 2001. The government is providing £500,000 (double the original budget) to fund the debate.

The debate process began last November with a series of foundation discussion workshops to let members of the public frame the issues for debate. A steering group has been set up to submit a report on the debate to government by the end of September.

The Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said today that the government remained "strongly committed" to the public debate.

The National Trust has also welcomed today’s launch and called for full public participation to ensure its success.

The trust has recently contacted all of its three million members through its member magazine, encouraging them to make their views on GM crops known to the government.

Peter Nixon, Director of Conservation at the Trust, said: "Our members are likely to have a great deal to say on many aspects of the GM issue, from the food they eat to the future of farming and the countryside."

The trust has also called on the government to extend the debate – scheduled to conclude next month – until the end of October to ensure that as many people as possible have the chance to contribute.

The National Trust says that it is not opposed "in principle" to genetic modification technology as "it has the potential to provide significant benefits".

Regional debates are to be held in Birmingham (June 3), Swansea (June 5), Taunton (June 7), Belfast (June 9), Glasgow (June 11), and Harrogate (June 13).

(GMcG)