[img_assist|nid=108|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=43]In 2007 and 2008, the German authorities approved of 'field-trials' with the GM potato Amflora by BASF even though the goal was/is not to do any research but simply to produce seed potatoes for the case that Amflora actually gets a cultivation approval in the EU. One of the conditions was that no potatoes would be left on the field afterwards. Already in autumn 2007, a number of potatoes were discovered on one of the fields after the harvest. Now, a season later, it is quite obvious that GM potatoes cannot be contained: As the newspaper taz reported the field is now planted with maize - and among that a number of potato plants can be found.
The new condition from the German authorities: spray the field again with herbicides once the maize is harvested. So instead of a field trial that left no potatoes on the field after harvests, we now end up with at least two additional applications of herbicides (and possibly more to come), wild boar feeding on left over potatoes in winter 2007, and a representative from BASF that simply states: "Of course there will be potatoes on the field in the next season."
Now this was a field trial on a few fields with a lot of public attention. How will things develop if Amflora were to be cultivated commericially?