GM Crops (Hansard, 9 September 2003)

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the approvals procedure for genetically modified crops; whether she plans to amend the regulations; and if she will make a statement. [128330]

§ Mr. Morley
From 1998 to 2001, the UK and our EU partners conducted a thorough review of the EU procedure for assessment and approval of genetically modified organisms, including GM crops. This culminated in the revised EU Directive 2001/18, which entered into force in October 2002, replacing previous EU legislation in this area.
365W
The Government strongly support decision making under the updated and improved Directive. It provides a robust framework by which the UK authorities and our EU partners can make effective, evidence-based decisions on whether or not to allow the release or placing on the market of particular GM crops according to the merits of each case. The Directive has been fully transposed in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Notwithstanding our support for Directive 2001/18, the Government have a voluntary agreement with the UK biotech industry that GM crops will not be grown commercially in this country until we have assessed the results of our Farm Scale Evaluations (FSE) crop trials. We will review our policy on GM crops in light of the FSE results and other relevant information, including the report of the GM public debate.

§ Mr. Roger Williams
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether GM crops that reduce acrylamide formation have been produced. [128693]

§ Mr. Morley
No GM crops that show reduced acrylamide formation have been trialled in the UK, and there are no current applications to market such crops in the EU. Acrylamide is formed during the cooking of some foods, and is believed to be produced as a result of a chemical reaction between the sugars and amino acids that naturally occur in foodstuffs. Recent research has indicated that acrylamide may be harmful to consumers. It might be feasible to reduce the formation of acrylamide during cooking by altering the composition of crops. This could be achieved either using conventional plant breeding or genetic modification.

§ Mr. Roger Williams
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) by how much(a) diesel fuel consumption by farmers and (b) soil erosion would be reduced if 50 per cent. of UK sugar beet, maize and oilseed rape farmers switched to GM herbicide-tolerant varieties and conservation tillage; [128694]
(2) how many kilos of soil-acting herbicide would be saved if 25 per cent. of the UK forage maize crop were to be sown as GM herbicide-tolerant varieties. [128700]

§ Mr. Morley
It is not possible to give precise estimates of the impact of growing GM herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) crops in the UK on fuel consumption, soil erosion or herbicide usage. These issues are analysed in the report published by the Government"s Strategy Unit in July on the costs and benefits of GM crops www.strategy.gov.uk. This notes the potential for GMHT crops to deliver various benefits through improved crop management practices, but does not offer firm conclusions because of the complexity of the issues and the limitations of the available evidence.