§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 27 January 1999,Official Report, column 302, what recent legal advice he has (a) sought and (b) received in respect of whether World Trade Organisation rules permit genetically modified material used in food production to be segregated as a condition of import. [75188]
§ Mr. Rooker[holding answer 8 March 1999]: It is made clear under the World Trade Organisation Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, that World Trade Organisation members have the right to take measures necessary for the protection of human, animal or plant life or health, but these must be based on scientific principles and not maintained without sufficient scientific evidence. A requirement to segregate GM products at import other than on this basis would therefore be a trade-restrictive measure.