§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of herbicide-resistant oil seed rape varieties created by conventional plant breeding methods; what controls exist on such plants; and if he will make a statement; [82071]
6W(2) what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulatory systems for crops created by conventional plant breeding in respect of their potential environmental impact. [82072]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 27 April 1999]No formal assessment has been made of the environmental impact of herbicide-resistant oil seed rape varieties created by conventional plant breeding methods or the adequacy of the regulatory systems for crops created by conventional plant breeding in respect of their potential environmental impact.
However, concern over the environmental implications of herbicide-tolerant crops (whether produced by genetic modification or conventional methods) have been raised on several occasions by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), in particular in their annual reports for 1996–97 and 1998.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is co-funding research on the management of genetically modified herbicide tolerant crops through the so-called BRIGHT project.
The guidelines developed by the industry grouping SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops) for growing herbicide tolerant crops also applies to both conventionally bred and genetically modified crops.
In their report on the EC Regulation of Genetic Modification in Agriculture at paragraph 178, the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities recommended that, from now on, any crop with novel traits which may have the potential to impact significantly on the environment should be subject to an oversight system.
In responding, the Government recognised that regulating on the basis of process rather than product could lead to anomalies and undertook to ask ACRE to advise what might be done to address the issue raised by the Committee. ACRE have now taken this task on. However the Government consider it right that the focus is on the genetic modification of organisms since this can result in the crossing of species barriers where potential risks have to be particularly carefully assessed and managed. The EC legislation on genetically modified organisms reflects this view.