§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what safeguards the Government plans to impose to guard against cross-pollination with non-genetically modified plants when genetically modified foods are planted commercially. [75138]
§ Mr. RookerThe issue of cross-pollination is considered by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) when examining each application for release of genetically modified (GM) crops. Appropriate conditions (e.g. separation distances) may be included in a consent, but a consent would not be granted if ACRE considered the risks associated with cross-pollination to be unacceptable. In addition the Government have encouraged the development of industry guidelines which will set out best practice for growing GM crops, and these guidelines will include minimum separation distances between GM and non-GM crops.