§ 11. Paddy Tipping (Sherwood)What criteria other than the results of the farm-scale trials will be considered in reaching the decision on the commercial growing of GM crops; and when a decision will be announced. [133792]
§ The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Margaret Beckett)The criteria that must be met before any GM crop can be considered for approval for commercial cultivation in the EU are set out in great detail in EU Directive 2001/18/EC. No GM crop can be grown commercially without collective agreement by EU member states. No decisions on the 787 current applications are expected until after we have responded to the GM public dialogue, and all the different strands of that and the other evidence.
§ Paddy TippingThe Secretary of State has undertaken a significant amount of work on this matter. There are different voices in the argument. One thing that might unite us is the recognition of the process and timetable for decision making. Will the Secretary of State use her best endeavours to indicate to the House today when a final decision on commercial growing in the United Kingdom will be taken?
§ Margaret BeckettI cannot give my hon. Friend that understanding, but I can give him some indication of when the decision will not be taken. My hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment referred earlier to the public hearings that the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission is conducting. One is to be held on 27 November and one on 4 December, if my memory serves me right. After that, it will have to consider and produce its reports. We are not sure when we will get the report from the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment on co-existence and how different crops can be grown alongside one another, but we anticipate that it will probably be before Christmas, although that is not clear. All of that will have to be taken into account and it is extremely unlikely that the evidence that European Union member states will need will be available much before the new year. I should not be surprised if it were not early in the new year. I am afraid that that is the best I can do, because the timetable is not all within our control.