§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what applications have been made to him for clearance of Aventis T25 maize for use as animal feed; and if he will place in the Library the details of all clearances granted. [117276]
§ Ms StuartAs responsibility for food safety and standards matters has now passed to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which reports to Parliament through Health Ministers, I have been asked to reply.
I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that AgrEvo (now Aventis) submitted an application, to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, for voluntary approval of food and feed safety clearance of glufosinate ammonium tolerant maize in 1995. In addition, an application to market AgrEvo's T25 maize for cultivation and importation for processing into food and animal feed was received, via the Department of the Environment, under Council Directive 90/220/EEC from the French competent authority in 1996. Details of the food safety clearance are contained in the annual report for 1996 of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes. The marketing consent under Directive 90/220/EEC was issued by France in 1998 following publication of the Commission's Decision in the "Official Journal of the European Communities" (L131, 5.5.98). This consent, which authorises the marketing of T25 maize for use in food and animal feed, was agreed by the Member States taking into account the advice of the EC Scientific Committee for Plants. The committee's remit included the consideration of any adverse effects on human health or the environment arising from the placing on the market of this maize. Copies of both documents are available in the Library.