On October 9th three members of Shepway FOE, Barrie Botley, Tom Backlog and Kenny Siddle went to Brussels, and along with hundreds of people from a dozen European countries marched to the European Parliament and Council, pushing supermarket trolleys of food free of genetically modified (GM) ingredients. The protest coincided with a meeting of European Union (EU) Member States Representatives and highlighted the importance of the following week's EU Ministerial meetings where important decisions will be made on GM labelling. EU ministers were to determine whether or not consumers should be given a choice over eating GM foods.

Friends of the Earth is concerned that the EU ministers might water down the strict labelling rules that were adopted by the European Parliament in July. A draft for next week's ministerial decision indicates that some EU member states are considering allowing food to be contaminated by up to 1% of genetically modified material, including GM ingredients which have not been authorised for sale in Europe. A majority in the European Parliament voted against allowing any unauthorized GMOs (genetically modified organisms) into the food chain.

Alexander de Roo, a Dutch Member of the European Parliament who attended the trolley parade said, "This protest is a clear signal that European consumers are no longer prepared to be cheated and that European citizens want to know what they eat."

Alan Simpson, Labour MP from the UK, who also attended the rally, said he was concerned about the lack of adequate liability laws. He said: "There are so many loopholes in the proposed liability directive that it is not worth the paper it is written on. The EU has come up with a new twisted principle of its own, the polluter plays and the taxpayer pays."