§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which(a) individuals and (b) organisations she met during her recent US discussions concerning GM food and crops; what was discussed; and what action she plans to take following those meetings. [122512]
§ Marjorie MowlamThe Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Robert May, and I held a series of meetings on biotechnology in Washington on 1 and 2 May. We met US Government representatives, including Dan Glickman, US Secretary of State of Agriculture; Mike McCabe, Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency; and282W Sharon Smith Holston, Deputy Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration. We also met congressmen Dennis Kucinich and Calvin Dooley, representatives of interested non-governmental organisations and representatives from the Biotechnology Industry Organisation, in order to hear views from across the debate. In all these meetings I made clear the UK's commitment to a science-based approach to biotechnology which protects public health and the environment, explained developments in the biotechnology debate in the UK (including reform of our regulatory system and improved food labelling), and discussed American concerns in order to build a common understanding of the ways forward. As a result, in advance of the next G8 summit, we are taking forward discussions with G8 partners and developing countries on the recommendation of the OECD conference on GM food safety in Edinburgh for an international scientific advisory panel on GM food and environmental safety.