§ Lord Beaumont of Whitleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What will be the remit of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides when assessing applications for the use of herbicide on crops genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide. [HL3397]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Donoughue)The remit of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides is to give advice to Ministers, either when requested to do so or otherwise, on any matters relating to the control of pests in furthering the general purposes of Part III of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.
No herbicide (or any pesticide) may be used unless Ministers, advised by the committee, have given approval to that use. The use of a herbicide on a crop genetically engineered to be resistant to that herbicide would be a new use requiring a new ministerial approval. When considering whether to recommend that such an application to use a herbicide should be approved by Ministers, the committee will apply its usual standards of human and environmental safety.