§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list the occasions since 1 September 1998, when(a) he, (b) his advisers and (c) staff in the Cabinet Office have (i) received communications from and (ii) had discussions with (1) representatives of the US Government and (2) companies with a commercial interest in the development of GMOs, in respect of genetically modified organisms, indicating the nature of such communications and meetings. [57703]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 2 November 1998]: I, Ministers, advisers and other civil servants receive representations from and meet many people in the course of their work. This properly includes meetings with representatives from foreign governments and with interest groups outside Government. By convention it is not the practice of governments to make information on such meetings or their content publicly available.
The Government's position on GMOs was explained on 21 October 1998 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment to the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities, Sub-Committee D. Ministers have made it 472W clear that public health and the protection of the environment are the Government's first priority on GMOs. On the same day I announced the establishment of a new Cabinet Committee to oversee developments in the area of biotechnology.