HC Deb 25 May 1999 vol 332 cc154-5
8. Mr. Norman Baker (Lewes)

What responsibilities in respect of genetically modified crops will be transferred to the Scottish Parliament. [84134]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Calum Macdonald)

Genetically modified crops are a devolved matter, so the Scottish Parliament will have competence to legislate in that area, within the parameters laid down in European Union legislation.

Mr. Baker

I am grateful for that answer. Will the Scottish Parliament be able to invoke article 16 of the 1990 EU directive 90/220 and ban the growing of Novartis maize, which the Minister will know has been banned in Austria and Luxembourg? If he cannot answer now, will he write to me? Will the Scottish Parliament be able to stand up for the consumer, the farmer and the environmentalist in a way that the Minister for the Cabinet Office conspicuously failed to do last week?

Mr. Macdonald

I do not know about the specific crop that the hon. Gentleman mentioned or the situation in Austria or Luxembourg but a general moratorium on genetically modified crops is not legal under EU law, as I am sure that he realises. The important thing is to conduct trials responsibly. That is why the Government have a number of agencies at our disposal to provide advice, including the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes. Last Friday, two new commissions were set up: the Human Genetics Commission and the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission. The important thing is to ensure that the Scottish Parliament can get advice from those commissions operating on a UK-wide basis. That is what we intend.

Mr. Edward Leigh (Gainsborough)

Apart from genetically modified crops, which issues likely to excite political interest are to be left to the Scottish Office and not covered by another United Kingdom Minister?

Mr. Macdonald

I think that the hon. Gentleman is repeating earlier questions. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave the answer to all those questions; he operates—indeed the Scottish Office operates—both as a representative of the Scottish people within the British Cabinet and as a representative of the British Cabinet in Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom.