GM Crops (Hansard, 15 May 2000)

§ Mr. Alan Simpson
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the published and pre-reviewed studies that the Government have assessed to date on the safety of GM crops. [117029]

§ Mr. Meacher
There are hundreds of published and peer-reviewed scientific papers and studies that inform the safety assessments of GM crops. It is not possible to list them all here but some examples considered recently by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) are as follows. This body of knowledge on GM crops which is contained in the scientific literature is brought to bear on risk assessment not only through the individual experts on Government advisory committees, such as ACRE, but also via the Government's own scientists and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Environmental Risks of Herbicide-Tolerant Oilseed Rape: A Review of the PGS Hybrid Oilseed Rape, DETR Research Report No. 15. March 1999.Birch, A.N.E., Geoghegan. I.E., Majerus, M.E.N., McNicol, J.W., Hackett, C.A., Gatehouse, A.M.R. and Gatehouse, J.A. (1999). Tri-trophic interactions involving pest aphids, predatory 2-spot ladybirds and transgenic potatoes expressing snowdrop lectin for aphid resistance. Molecular Breeding 5, 75–83Huang, F., Buschman, L., Higgins, R.A. and W.H. McGaughey. (1999). Inheritance of Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin (Dipel ES) in the European Corn Borer. Science 284 pp 965–967Losey, J.E., Raynor, L.S., and Carter, M.E. (1999). Transgenic Pollen Harms Monarch Larvae. Nature 399 pp 214¹Ho, M. W., Ryan, A., Cummins, J.,(1999). Cauliflower mosaic viral promoter—a recipe for disaster. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 11 (4)Note: ¹Discussed at ACRE meeting on 9 June 1999.

§ Mr. Jenkin
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he took to notify district and parish councils about the GM crop trials in(a) St. Osyth and (b) Wivenhoe in Essex. [121276]

§ Mr. Meacher
[holding answer 8 May 2000]: Information about the Farm Scale Evaluations of GM crops is widely available. I announced the programme on 17 March and wrote to the hon. Member and other MPs with constituencies in England, outlining the aims and nature of the research.
A full list of proposed site locations is available on my Department's website, along with more detailed information about the programme and GM crops in general. The Cabinet Office website also contains further information.
2W
My Department has organised a series of regional meetings, to which district and local councillors in areas where GM crop trials are proposed have been invited. There is also a DETR leaflet, "GM Crops—Take a Closer Look", which is on the website and available at public meetings.
The proposed trial of oil seed rape at St. Osyth (which is now not going ahead) was advertised locally by Aventis. Officials from my Department wrote to the local parish and district councillors to invite them to attend a public meeting in Ipswich on 13 April and I understand that several councillors were able to attend.
The proposed trial of GM maize at Wivenhoe has not been advertised locally, because the crop involved has a European Part C marketing consent which means that it can be grown in the UK without my Department being notified. However, the biotechnology industry has agreed that this crop should be grown in the Farm Scale Evaluations and have agreed to provide my Department with the grid references of the fields involved. Details are on the DETR website.

§ Mr. Keetch
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received from Herefordshire about the siting of the GM trial sites in Kempley, Gloucestershire, and Preston Wynne, Herefordshire; and if he will make a statement. [122039]

§ Mr. Meacher
Following notification of the proposed Farm Scale Evaluation of oil seed rape at Kempley, Gloucestershire, my Department has received 18 letters from those objecting to, and seeking further information about, the Evaluations programme.
My Department was told about the GM maize at Preston Wynne on 26 April, at which time details were placed on the Department's website. To date, no letters have specifically referred to this field site.