§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and the Environment's letter to the hon. Member for Linlithgow of 12 January, what conclusions he has reached in respect of the official study of the Scottish Crop Research Institute report on the computation of safe isolation distances for field-grown genetically modified crops. [17907]
§ Mr. Raymond S. RobertsonThe findings contained in the final report of Scottish Office funded research projects are normally published to inform the wider scientific community and the industries which might benefit. Research conclusions may also have a bearing on policy or legislative considerations and provide a justification for further study.
The conclusion from this particular four year project is that viable pollen will disperse to distances of up to 1.5 km from source. This broadly supports the accepted 269W views on pollen dispersal which are taken into account in each relevant case for the release of genetically modified crops.