HC Deb 08 December 1999 vol 340 cc541-3W
Joan Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will put measures in place to ensure that honey produced around the farm-scale trials for genetically modified crops will not contain genetically modified pollen. [99535]

Mr. Mullin

The crops in the farm-scale evaluations are being grown in the open and will be visited by bees from nearby hives. Traces of GM pollen may therefore occur in honey from such hives, although in any event honey only contains very small amounts of pollen. The Government, as advised by ACRE and the ACNFP, do not consider the presence in honey of pollen from GM crops to pose a risk to health. Therefore no special measures are being put in place to prevent bees from visiting crops.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the compensatory payments to which GM consent holders and national list maintainers may be entitled upon revocation of their consents and licences after the farm-scale evaluations. [100001]

Mr. Mullin

No estimate has been made of whether compensatory payments would be payable to GM consent holders on revocation of a consent. There are no genetically modified plant varieties on the UK National List at present, therefore the question is not relevant to national list maintainers.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the advice he has received from the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment in response to applications for marketing consent under EU Directive 90/220 for(a) Plant Genetics Systems oil seed rape C/BE/96/01, (b) LF Trifolium A/S, Monsanto Europe, SA Danisco Seed fodder beet C/DK/97/01 and (c) Hoechst Schering, AgrEvo GmbH oilseed rape C/DE/96/5; and when the final decision will be made by the EU. [100000]

Mr. Mullin

The advice of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) for these applications, and on all applications to release GMOs, is contained in the statutory public register held in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

A decision on whether or not to approve these products is scheduled to be taken at the next meeting of the Regulatory Committee for Directive 90/220/EEC to be held on 9 March 2000.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effect the horizontal spread of antibiotic resistant marker genes from GM crops will have on the treatment of life-threatening infectious diseases. [100165]

Mr. Mullin

Although there is little evidence that antibiotic resistant marker genes can escape from crop plants under field conditions; the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), and the Advisory Committee for Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP), always consider the likely consequences of the horizontal spread of antibiotic resistant marker genes from genetically modified (GM) crops, were it to be possible. If horizontal gene transfer from a particular GM plant is judged to be harmful to human health or the environment, then the release would not be allowed.

The Committees consider that the use of antibiotic resistance markers should be discouraged and that their use will become unnecessary as genetic modification techniques are developed further. Their use should therefore be phased out.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the specific restrictions placed on the cultivation of GM crops. [99916]

Mr. Mullin

No GM crops may be released in England without specific approval from the Secretary of State for the Environment, acting jointly with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, or from the devolved Administrations for releases in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Each consent lists the specific limitations and conditions applying to the release. This information is available on the statutory public register held in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will explain the difference between GM farm-scale evaluations and other GM field-scale plantings. [99904]

Mr. Mullin

The farm-scale evaluations of GM crops are part of a programme designed primarily to assess the effect of the management of particular GM herbicide tolerant crops, together with the relevant herbicide, on the abundance and diversity of farmland wildlife compared with conventionally managed equivalent non-GM crops.

The evaluations are funded by Government, with the industry group SCIMAC providing and managing the crops. Proposals by SCIMAC for any other large areas or field-scale plantings of these GM crops, would be outside the farm-scale evaluation programme and will be decided by the Scientific Steering Committee, taking into account the relevance of the proposals to biodiversity. This arrangement is part of the agreement between the Government and SCIMAC, announced in November 1999.

Jackie Ballard

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the locations in the UK where Class C Consent for GM crop planting has been given. [100226]

Mr. Mullin

A Part C consent for cultivation of a GM crop, issued under EU Directive 90/220, permits growing anywhere within the geographical region specified in the consent. The regulatory authorities do not have to be notified of the locations where the crop is grown.

At present three types of GM maize have Part C consents which include the UK within their scope for cultivation. However, under the recently announced voluntary agreement with SCIMAC, these crops will only be grown in accordance with the terms of that agreement.