§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 15 February 1999,Official Report, column 424, on genetically modified crops, if she will make a statement on the progress of the research on the potential impact on farmers in developing countries of the increased use of genetically modified crops. [85489]
§ Clare ShortLater this year we will publish a progress report on our natural resources knowledge activities, including details of those studies which address genetic modification issues of concern and interest to developing countries. The three-year research project on the potential risks of introducing transgenic plants into traditional cropping systems, referred to in my earlier answer, began in April 1999. Results are not yet available. A short, predictive study of the potential effects on the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries of so-called "terminator" gene technologies is to be commissioned shortly for completion by the end of this year.