HC Deb 23 March 1999 vol 328 cc210-2W
Mr. Mitchell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list consents he has given, specifying under what legal authority, for cultivation of genetically modified crops for(a) research and (b) sale; and for each consent the name of (i) applicant, (ii) company and (iii) owner, if different, (1) the area of (a) enclosed and (b) open tillage of the crop, and (2) its location; the purpose of (x) research and (y) sale, together with any purchaser if known, and the period of permission. [72563]

Mr. Rooker

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 19 March 1999,Official Report, column 879.

Mr. Redwood

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the genetically modified foods, crops or seeds, for which licence applications are pending which contain a translator enhancer. [73019]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 25 February 1999]: Although translator enhancers are found widely in nature, they have not been added as part of the modification for the only GM food under consideration in the EU which has been recommended for approval by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (genetically modified (GM) tomato products). In the case of GM green-hearted and radicchio rosso chicory, the only other pending applications which have been considered by the ACNFP, the committee did not recommend approval because, among other reasons, the molecular data were incomplete. Copies of the ACNFP's advice on both products is available in the Library of the House.

The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions hold details of applications pending under EC Regulation 90/220 for GM crops and seeds. I have asked the Ministry of the Environment to provide details of any applications which contain translator enhancers.

Mr. Baker

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to require those responsible for the production of genetically modified foods to take out adequate insurance to cover compensation claims for any resulting damage to human health. [75108]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 8 March 1999]: All genetically modified (GM) foods are subject to a full and rigorous safety assessment to ensure that they are as safe as their non-GM counterpart before approval. Whilst it is a criminal offence under the Food Safety Act 1990 to sell any food which is injurious to health or unfit for human consumption, insurance arrangements are a matter for individual companies.

Mr. Baker

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to require genetically-modified food manufacturers to demonstrate clinical efficacy through clinical trials before being permitted to make claims regarding the alleged health advantages of such foods; and if he will make a statement. [76510]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 16 March 1999]: Clinical efficacy forms part of the assessment procedure for all new drugs and therefore applies to any substances, including those which have the appearance of foods, where medicinal claims are made, that is that they will prevent, treat or cure a human disease. Any GM foods, where such claims are not being made (which includes all those currently on the market), are subject to different, but equally strict, safety assessment criteria based on establishing that they do not present a danger to the public; as well as the requirements that the public are not misled in any way about them; and that they do not disadvantage the public in terms of their nutritional content.

Claims that foods may have beneficial health (but not medicinal) effects may be made so long as they are accurate and do not mislead consumers. A voluntary Code of Practice for validation of all health claims relating to food is being developed by a joint body comprising representatives from consumer groups, food law enforcement authorities and industry.

Joan Ruddock

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will announce a new labelling regime for genetically modified foods; and if he will make a statement. [77537]

Mr. Rooker

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) on 18 March 1999,Official Report, column 814.

Joan Ruddock

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what unlicensed genetically modified soya has formed part of the ingredients of products on sale in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [77261]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 18 March 1999]: None. Recent press reports that the Worcester Trading Standards Department had detected a non-approved genetically (GM) soya ingredient related to a sample of material that entered the country before May 1997, the composition of which could not be verified analytically. There is therefore no evidence that non-approved GM material is entering the food supply. In 1997, the only GM soya grown commercially in the USA was Monsanto's Round-up Ready soya. This is the approved soya currently being used in food in the UK.