SPECIAL FEATURE
cells or to move genes across species boundaries .”
• Again , a Schedule is to be used , or the animal ( s ) or fish are to be designated on the Declarations .
The other four forms available for use are the following .
• FB 10 64 04 16 , Exclusion — Injury or Damage From Genetically Modified Beans , Crops , Grains , Seeds , Plants , Shrubs or Trees . This is for use with the Farm Umbrella and the Farm Premises and Personal Umbrella Liability endorsement .
• FB 10 65 04 16 , Exclusion — Injury or Damage From Genetically Modified Animal ( s ) or Fish . This is for use with the Farm Umbrella and the Farm Premises and Personal Umbrella Liability endorsement .
• FE 10 64 04 16 , Exclusion — Injury or Damage From Genetically Modified Beans , Crops , Grains , Seeds , Plants , Shrubs or Trees . This is for use with the Farm Excess Liability policy .
• FE 10 65 04 16 , Exclusion — Injury or Damage From Genetically Modified Animal ( s ) or Fish . This is for use with the Farm Excess Liability policy .
RISK AWARENESS By being aware of the risks — both potential and feared — of utilizing GMO seeds and crops , our clients can become more proactive in applying their risk management practices . Awareness of risk directly leads ( in most cases ) to the implementation of risk management practices . After all , we cannot manage that which we do not understand or see . The implementation of risk management practices leads our customers to consider risk transfer , avoidance , or other considerations in their farm and land management practices . to a neighboring property , is their coverage under your environmental liability ( pollution ) coverage form ?” The answer was a quick “ no .”
HERE IS WHAT I AM CERTAIN OF GMOs — like it or not — are already an integral part of the food chain . Efforts are being made to further this pattern . Think of Bt eggplant ( an area staple ) being grown in Bangladesh and the Philippines or C4 rice being developed to increase yields to offset the cultivable land loss .
Failing to engage our customers in risk management discussions regarding their use of GMO crops / seeds could prove a costly lesson for all of us . After all , one way or another — either via passive or active retention — one still has the risk . Some things ( as of this writing ) are still uninsurable . The discussion is sure to continue .
ONE FINAL QUESTION — DO YOU LIKE SALMON ? Finally , in case you missed it , the Food and Drug Administration at the end of 2015 approved a salmon that has been engineered to grow twice as fast as its natural growing counterpart . AquAdvantage , starting with the genome from an Atlantic salmon , took a growth hormone out of a chinook salmon and combined it with a gene from an ocean pout to make a salmon that will grow twice as fast to arrive at your dinner plate twice as soon as the normal growth of a salmon would take . No word on whether or not it will cook twice as fast as wild salmon . ________________________________________
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ISAAA ( International Service for the Acquisition of Agri- Biotech ), Resources Publications Pocket K Q and A about Genetically Modified Crops .
In the future , I find it possible that our growers may need to provide some environmental impact study or report as a future condition of growing specific crops in specific areas . Perhaps if that comes to fruition , the ecological liability policies that we use will respond positively to the insured . In recently speaking with one environmental insurer , I asked the question , “ If my client ’ s GMO crop migrates
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