§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the studies commissioned by his Department into the potential indirect effect on the environment from the growing of genetically modified crops. [74865]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 5 March 1999]: My Department is in the process of commissioning ecological studies of the diversity and abundance of plants and invertebrates associated with the management of certain genetically modified herbicide tolerant crops compared with equivalent non genetically modified crops to test whether there are any significant differences over a four year period.
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many release consents for genetically modified crops trials there have been in each year since 1990. [75110]
239W
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 8 March 1999): Since the current Regulations came into force in February 1993, 154 consents have been issued. The break down per year is as follows:
Year Applications approved 1993 15 1994 24 1995 40 1996 28 1997 25 1998 22