§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice his Department has given the European Commission on the Dutch Government's approval for raddicio rosso to be sold in the Netherlands without the approval of the EU. [94868]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 21 October 1999]Chicory (raddicio rosso) has been approved under Part C of Directive 90/220/EEC for growing in the European Union for the purposes of seed production only. It is not for general cultivation, nor can it enter the food or animal feed chain under this approval.
The application was submitted to the UK and the other member states via the Dutch Competent Authority in 1995. The UK together with the other member states reviewed the application dossier. The UK Competent Authority raised no objection to the product being placed on the European market. The Community's decision was that the cultivation of this particular GM crop for the purposes of seed production posed a low risk to human health and the environment.