§ Lord Beaumont of Whitleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will provide details of when, to their knowledge, seeds of a genetically modified plant variety have been marketed, sold or otherwise supplied under arrangements specified in Regulation 31 of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982. [HL775]
§ Baroness HaymanRegulation 31 of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended) requires that, except as provided for in Regulation 32, seed of agricultural and vegetable varieties shall not be marketed unless the variety in question is on a National List or a EC Common Catalogue. GM plant varieties may be entered on the UK National List only if a marketing consent has been promulgated under Directive 90/220/EEC on the Deliberate Release into the Environment of Genetically Modified Organisms and an authorisation has been issued, where appropriate, under the Novel Food Regulations.
There are no GM plant varieties on the UK National List and no marketing has, therefore, taken place from that source. Two GM chicory varieties (FIRESTONE and SAM) were added to the EC Vegetable Common Catalogue on 15 June 1999 under marketing consent reference C/NL/94/25, which restricts marketing to plant breeding activities and excludes their use for human or animal feed. There is no requirement under that consent to notify member states of such marketing activity.