§ Lord Shore of Stepneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the treaty base which empowers the European Commission to draft directives regulating the import into a member state of products, foodstuffs, seeds and plants produced or grown in other member states which are judged by a member state to threaten the health of humans, animals, plants and crops in that state. [HL2741]
§ Lord DonoughueAs my noble friend correctly identified in the debate on 27 May 1999 onGenetic Modification in Agriculture: ECC Report (Official Report, col. 1069) Article 30 (previously Article 36) of the treaty enables member states to restrict imports on 183WA the grounds of protecting the health of humans, animals or plants if there are no other harmonising measures in place. In relation to GM crops and foods, both the council directive on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms (90/220/EEC) and EC Regulation 258/97 concerning novel foods and novel food ingredients have regard to the treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 95 (previously Article 100a) thereof.
Community legislation governing the marketing of genetically modified foods, plants and seeds has the objective of safeguarding human health and the environment. Products have to be approved at Community level before they can be placed on the Community market. Given the treaty base and the objectives of the Community legislation, there are no grounds for restricting such imports unless new information calls into question the original approval, in which case a member state may temporarily restrict imports while the new information is assessed.