HC Deb 22 June 1998 vol 314 cc414-9W
Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 21 May 1998,Official Report, column 483, if he will indicate whether any tests and trials are being or have been conducted in respect of each of the national seed list applications under Regulation 11(1) of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982, indicating the names of the persons conducting the tests and the dates thereof. [46209]

Mr. Rooker

National List tests to establish distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) and trials for value, cultivation and use (VCU) have been or are being carried out as shown. For reasons of personal confidentiality, only the corporate identities of trialling agents is released into the public domain.

AFP No. Spices Earliest sowing dates of DUS tests and VCU trials Current status of tests and trials Responsible organisation for tests and trials
35/1211 Spring oilseed rape 24 March 1998 Ongoing NIAB—DUS
NIAB and SAC—VCU
35/1222 Spring oilseed rape 8 April 1998 Ongoing NIAB—DUS; not sown1
NIAB and SAC—VCU
1DUS test plots were not sown for this variety as a Deliberate Release Consent was not granted until 1 April 1998. The variety has been sown in 1998 VCU trials only
2 A proposed decision on whether these varieties should be added to the UK National List will not be taken until the necessary marketing consent has been promulgated by the French Competent Authority to whom the marketing application under Council Directive 90/220/EEC was submitted

Notes:

  • DUS: Tests to establish Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability
  • VCU: Trials to establish Value for Cultivation and Use in the UK
  • NIAB: National Institute of Agricultural Botany, Cambridge
  • SAC: Scottish Agricultural College, Aberdeen
  • BSBSPA: British Sugar Beet Seed Producers Association
  • BSPB: British Society of Plant Breeders

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 14 May 1998,Official Report, column 200, for what reasons he will not make available to the public the results which are held by him of seed tests and trials to establish value for cultivation and use until a proposed decision on whether the seeds should be added to the national list has been published in the "Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette".[46205]

Mr. Rooker

Proposed decisions about addition to the national list are published after careful consideration of the data resulting from tests and trials, and subject to the necessary marketing consent being in place under directive 90/220/EEC. Addition to the national list is a statutory pre-requisite to marketing, and it is only when proposed decisions are published that the formal representations procedures at sections 21 and 22 of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended) apply. Any person with a sufficient interest can obtain the results of tests and trials when considering whether to make representations against proposed decisions.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 14 May 1998,Official Report, column 198, if he will list the agricultural species which are not trialled or tested for national list purposes to establish whether they have value for cultivation and use. [46204]

Mr. Rooker

Schedule I, Part 1 of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended) lists the agricultural species that are subject to national list tests and trials, and the common names of these species are given in the following schedule for information. Schedule 2, Section 5, of the same regulations exempts varieties of grasses not intended for fodder production, and any variety intended for ultimate sale in a Member State which has already accepted it for value for cultivation and use (VCU) purposes, from the VCU requirements that are specified at Schedule 2. Tests and trials and addition to the UK National List are not a requirement for varieties of species that are not subject to the National List regulations. But any genetically

modified varieties falling into these latter categories would still require a marketing consent under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which implements Directive 90/220/EEC.

The Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended) Schedule 1—Common names of agricultural plant species
Species Common name
Cereals Oat; barley; rye; triticale; wheat; durum wheat; spelt wheat; maize (except for sweetcorn)
Potatoes Potato
Beet Sugar beet; fodder beet; mangels
Fodder plants
(a)grasses Velvet bent; red top; creeping bent; brown top; tall oatgrass; rescue grass; alaska brome grass; cocksfoot; tall fescue; sheeps/hard/fine leaved sheeps fescue; meadow fescue; red fescue/chewings fescue; festulolium; westerwold ryegrass; Italian ryegrass; timothy; annual meadowgrass; wood meadowgrass; smooth stalked meadowgrass; roughstalked meadowgrass
(b)legumes Birdsfoot trefoil; white lupin; blue lupin; yellow lupin; black medick; trefoil; lucerne; sainfoin; field pea; alsike clover; red clover; white clover; field bean; Hungarian vetch; common vetch; hairy vetch
(c) other fodder plants Swede; fodder kale; fodder radish
Oil and fibre plants Turnip rape; brown mustard; swede rape (including oilseed rape); black mustard; sunflower; linseed/flax; white mustard; soya bean

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 21 May 1998,Official Report, column 483, if he will list the dates of each of the applications for national seed testing and the approximate dates by which he expects to make a proposed decision. [46210]

Mr. Rooker

The information requested is as follows:

AFP number Spices National List (NL) applicant Date of NL application1 Approximate date of proposed NL decision2
45/798 Sugar Beet Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht AG., Germany 31 December 1997 April 2000
45/822 Sugar Beet Novartis Seeds AB., Sweden 14 January 1998 April 2000
45/813 Sugar Beet Danisco Seeds, UK 14 January 1998 April 2000
45/774 Sugar Beet Hilleshog AB., 15 January 1997 April 1999
45/749 Sugar Beet Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht AG., Germany 7 January 1997 April 1999
51/833 Maize Van der Have, Netherlands 16 January 1998 February 2000
35/959 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems Belgium 14 December 1995 November1998
35/960 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems Belgium 14 December 1995 November1998
35/1016 Oilseed Rape Deutsche Saatveredelung GmbH, Germany 13 August 1996 November1998
35/1062 Oilseed Rape Monsanto Crop Protection UK 8 August 1996 November1998
35/1174 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems Belgium 28 August 1997 November1999
35/1175 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems Belgium 28 August 1997 November1999
35/1176 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems Belgium 28 August 1997 November1999
35/1184 Oilseed Rape Monsanto Crop Protection, UK 11 August 1996 November1999
35/1185 Oilseed Rape Monsanto Crop Protection, UK 11 August 1996 November1999
35/1205 Oilseed Rape Calgene Inc., USA 12 December 1997 November 1999
35/1206 Oilseed Rape Calgene Inc., USA 12 December 1997 November 1999
35/1210 Oil seed Rape Plant Genetic Systems Belgium 12 January 1998 November1999
35/1211 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems Belgium 12 January 1998 November 1999
35/1222 Oilseed Rape Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., USA 16 December 1997 November 1999
1Date of receipt of a valid application
2Subject to promulgation of marketing consents under Directive 90/220/EEC and satisfactory completion of tests and trials

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 21 May 1998, Official Report, column 483, if he will provide the corresponding genetically modified release consents in respect of each of the national seed list applications, indicating the application and consent numbers and dates and, if different from the national list applicants, the applicants' names. [46208]

Application number Species National list applicant Release consent number; Date consent granted; Applicant for Consent
45/798 Sugar Beet Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht AG., Germany 97/RI9/13–17 March 1997 Agrevo UK Crop Protection Ltd.
45/822 Sugar Beet Novartis Seeds AB., Sweden 96/R21/4–25 February 1997 Novartis Seeds Ltd.
45/813 Sugar Beet Danisco Seeds, UK 96/R21/4–25 February 1997 Novartis Seeds Ltd.
45/774 Sugar Beet Hilleshog AB., Sweden 96/R21/4–25 February 1997 Novartis Seeds Ltd.
45/749 Sugar Beet Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht AG., Germany 97/R19/13–17 March 1997 Agrevo UK Crop Protection Ltd.
51/833 Maize Van der Have, Netherlands 96/R13/6–2 April 1996 Sharpes International Seeds Ltd.
35/959 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium 95/R15/15–3 January 1996 Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium
35/960 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium 95/R15/15–3 January 1996 Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium
35/1016 Oilseed Rape Deutsche Saatveredelung GmbH, Germany 96/R27/1–6 August 1996 Perryfields Holdings Ltd.
35/1062 Oilseed Rape Monsanto Crop Protection UK 96/R22/6–6 August 1996 Monsanto Europe, Belgium
35/1174 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium 97/R15/20–1 August 1997 Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium
35/1175 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium 97/R15/20–1 August 1997 Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium
35/1176 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium 97/R15/20–1 August 1997 Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium

Mr. Rooker

In respect of the consents covering National List trials, the information requested is set out in the table. Further details relating to the release consents are available on a statutory public register which is maintained by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Application number Species National list applicant Release consent number Date consent granted; Applicant for Consent
35/1184 Oilseed Rape Monsanto Crop Protection, UK 96/R22/6–6 August 1996 Monsanto Europe, Belgium
35/1185 Oilseed Rape Monsanto Crop Protection, UK 96/R22/6–6 August 1996 Monsanto Europe, Belgium
35/1205 Oilseed Rape Calgene Inc., USA 97/R28/3–17 March 1998 John K. King & Sons Ltd.
35/1206 Oilseed Rape Calgene Inc., USA 97/R28/3–17 March 1998 John K. King & Sons Ltd.
35/1210 Oil seed Rape Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium 97/R15/23–19 March 1998 Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium
35/1211 Oilseed Rape Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium 97/R15/23–19 March 1998 Plant Genetic Systems N.V., Belgium
35/1222 Oilseed Rape Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., USA 97/R24/2–1 April 1998 Pioneer Genetique S.A.R.L., France

Note:

DETR application and consent numbers are the same

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