The French agricultural testing authorities have detected, before sowing, a low level of unauthorised GM presence in seed of a conventional soya bean variety.

Defra has established that seed from the same batch has been sown in a small trial of soya beans in West Sussex. The trial plots are being destroyed before the plants flower and set seed, as a precautionary measure. There is therefore no risk to adjacent crops or the wider environment. No other seed of the potentially affected variety has been sown in the UK.