HC Deb 09 June 2000 vol 351 cc419-20W
Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what statements have been made by the Government about the minimum number of genetically modified crop trials required to fulfil the objectives of the current crop trial programme. [122996]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 22 May 2000]In carrying out the Farm Scale Evaluations, the Government are advised by an independent research consortium and Scientific Steering Committee, who oversee the conduct of the trials. The design of the Evaluations is that over a three-year period we should seek a total of 60 to 75 sets of data for each crop.

At present, the Scientific Steering Committee have advised that 20 to 30 fields annually should be sought for beet, in a roughly equal proportion of fodder to sugar beet. This is because the Evaluations would be investigating a potentially broader range of management practices for beet than for the of her crops.

The Scientific Steering Committee met on 8 February and set minima of 12 to 15 sites for oilseed rape and maize and around 20 sites for beet, for the programme to begin. They confirmed at their meeting on 10 March that sufficient sites had been identified to ensure that a properly balanced scientific assessment could be made. I announced this year's programme on 17 March and there are currently 49 sites.

Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans the Government have to use the provisions of the Biosafety Protocol to restrict imports of crop seeds in order to reduce the risk of contamination with GM seeds. [124152]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 5 June 2000]The import of GM seeds is already covered by EU legislation. The Cartagena Protocol (Biosafety Protocol) to the Convention on Biological Diversity is not yet in force, and to become so, requires ratification by 50 signatories. The UK signed the Protocol at the earliest opportunity at the 5th Conference of the Parties to the Convention, and by the end of the Conference, a total of 67 countries plus the European Commission had signed. Allowing for the time taken for ratification through national parliaments, the Protocol is unlikely to come into force within less than two years.

We expect that the EU legislation will be extended as necessary to incorporate the requirements of the Protocol. We and other member states are already looking at ways of reducing risks of contamination with GM seeds using Community legislation.

Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if any of the current licensed GM crop trials taking place in the UK include procedures to test claims of sterility in the GM varieties concerned. [24159]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 5 June 2000]Several of the current consents for deliberate release are for GM oilseed rape hybrid systems comprising a male sterile line and a fertility restorer line which, when grown together, form a hybrid seed. It is the hybrid line which would form the seed stock for trials and for commercial production. The GM oilseed rape being grown in the farm scale evaluations is a fertile hybrid formed from crossing the male sterile line Ms8 and fertility restorer line Rf3.