§ Mr. Alan SimpsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the names and positions of those involved in the UK working party on the European directive relating to patenting and biotechnologies; what timetable they are working to; and what will be the nature of the consultation process relating to this work. [10638]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 24 July 1997]: Delegations to the Council working group dealing with the Commission's proposed directive on legal protection of biotechnical inventions consist of officials from the Patents Office. Personnel may vary according to agenda items under discussion.
The European Parliament produced its first opinion on the Commission's proposal at its vote on 16 July, and is seeking some 70 amendments to the Commission's text. We expect the Commission to respond with an amended proposal. When this emerges it will be put before the Council working group for discussion. The current presidency, Luxembourg, of the European Union has outlined its programme for meetings of the working group as 10–11 September, 6–7 and 27–28 October, and 6–7 November 1997, although these may vary depending upon the availability of the Commission's amended proposal.
§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what action she is taking to boost biotechnology-based business in the United Kingdom. [10076]
§ Mr. BattleMy Department is fully committed to strengthening our highly successful UK biotechnology industry. This will be achieved by both securing greater exploitation of our science base and by raising the awareness of opportunities offered by biotechnology to a wide range of industrial sectors.
On 11 July, my Department announced a second call for proposals under two initiatives, with the aim of improving competitiveness in the sector. The business mentoring and incubator challenge is designed to encourage intermediaries to address the management and business skills required by emerging biotechnology companies. The biotechnology exploitation platforms challenge aims to retain the benefits of publicly funded bioscience research in the UK, by promoting better management and exploitation of intellectual property.
In addition, my Department continues to promote biotechnology research and development in industry through a range of schemes, including SMART, LINK and EUREKA, which are targeted at small firms and collaborative research projects.
229WThese departmental initiatives help companies to profit from the results of more than £500 million per annum currently spent by the public sector on biotechnology-related research.