§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Advisory Committee on Specialist Products is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61716]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Advisory Committee on Specialist Products is a consultative committee of the European Commission. Its purpose is to facilitate consultation with 469W social and occupational groups with an interest in the EU regimes for wine-growing, spirit drinks, olives and derived products, beekeeping, hops and tobacco. It is not attended by officials of Her Majesty's Government and does not give rise to costs to the UK public funds.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Advisory Committee on Arable Crops is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61720]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Advisory Committee on Arable Crops is a consultative committee of the European Commission. Its purpose is to facilitate consultation with social and occupational groups with an interest in the EU regimes for arable crops. It is not attended by officials of Her Majesty's Government and does not give rise to costs to UK public funds.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Scientific Committee on Plants is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61694]
§ Mr. MorleyThe mandate for the Scientific Committee on Plants is as follows
Scientific and technical questions relating to plants intended for human or animal consumption, production or processing of non-food products as regards characteristics liable to affect human or animal health or the environment, including the use of pesticides".The SCP is particularly concerned with scientific evaluation relating to genetically modified organisms and pesticides.
The committee has met seven times since the beginning of June 2001.
Experts from the UK are currently Prof. Anthony R. Hardy (chairman), Central Science Laboratory; Prof. Howard V. Davies, Scottish Crop Research Institute; and Dr. Tom Sherratt (University of Durham). There are also a number of expert working groups under the SCP to which ad hoc experts are invited to contribute as appropriate.
The UK does not contribute directly to the costs of the SCP. I have no information on the annual cost of the committee to the European Commission.
The items currently under the SCP's consideration can be viewed on its website at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scp/index-en.html.
The committee is currently accountable through the European Commission (administered by the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General) through to the European Council and Parliament. Regulation 178/2002 established the European Food Safety Authority and later this year this committee's responsibilities will be transferred to two new panels (the Panel on Plant Health, 470W Plant Production Products and their Residues, and the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms) operating within the authority. Members of the new panels will remain to be appointed in an independent role and for their individual expertise.
The SCP's agendas and outcome of its discussions (opinions and minutes) are available on its website.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Advisory Committee on Fruit, Vegetables and Flowers is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61717]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Advisory Committee on Fruit, Vegetables and Flowers is a consultative committee of the European Commission. Its purpose is to facilitate consultation with social and occupational groups with an interest in the EU regimes for fruit, vegetables and flowers. It is not attended by officials of Her Majesty's Government and does not give rise to costs to UK public funds.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Scientific Committee on Designations of Origin, Geographical Indications and Certificates of Specific Character is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61723]
§ Mr. MorleyThe mandate of the Scientific Committee Designations of Origin, Geographical Indications and Certificates of Specific Character is set out in Commission Decision 95/53/EEC. The committee exists to provide expert advice to assist the European Commission in its consideration of applications concerning the registration of designations of origin, geographical indications and certificates of specific character.
There is no UK representation on the Scientific Committee. While one member of the current committee is British, he does not sit as a UK national, but is, like all the members, a qualified expert with a legal or agricultural background. The commission pays the travel and lodging costs of members. The Scientific Committee has met four times over the last 12-month period although in some previous years it has met more frequently than this. Items currently under its consideration are 'Galician mussels', `traditional grass-fed red poll beef' and an Italian milk product from the Apennines.
Regarding transparency and accountability, the commission, together with member states, is currently conducting a review to bring existing legislation on the conduct of comitology committees into line with Council Decision 1999/468/EC, to
simplify the requirements for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the commission".As an obligation to this decision, the commission undertook to publish an annual report on the working of committees, including the Scientific Committee. The first 471W report was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 26 February (Com (2001) 783 Final). As part of the review process, the UK Government have encouraged the commission to produce and maintain an electronic database of every comitology committee, its agendas and recent actions, to be available through its website.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Advisory Committee on the Protection of Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61706]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthI have been asked to reply.
Article 22 (3) of European Directive 86/609/EEC (on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states regarding the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes) provides for the commission to establish
a permanent consultative committee within which the member states would be represented, which will assist the Commission in organising the exchange of appropriate information, while respecting the requirements of confidentiality, and which will also assist the Commission in the other questions raised by the application of this directive.The Commission made a decision on 9 February 1990 (90/67/EEC) for setting up the Advisory Committee on the Protection of Animals for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes under article 22 of the directive, including provision for representation and working methods. However, the committee has never been established. The Commission has recently made a recommendation for the directive to be revised. In its initial comments on what amendments might be considered, the United Kingdom has suggested that the Commission should consider either dispensing with or establishing the Advisory Committee.