HC Deb 25 April 2001 vol 367 c293W
Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the transfer club members for each of the years of his Department's funding, indicating which of the transfer club members also received public funding for biotechnology research during this period, specifying the project details, research partners and funding periods. [157801]

Ms Quin

Membership of Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association (ca 1,000 members) automatically conferred membership of the club in its first phase of operation (January 1996 to July 1997). Membership by direct subscription applied in the second phase (October 1997 to March 1999). There were 130 registered members, distributed as follows: retail (7 per cent. manufacturing and wholesale (41 per cent.); agriculture (8 per cent.); biotechnology (15 per cent.); academic and R&D (17 per cent.), Associations and Government (12 per cent.)

There is no direct link between the activities of the club and public funding for research.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the role was of the Modern Biotechnology Information Transfer Club set up by his Department. [157799]

Ms Quin

The initiative to set up the Modern Biotechnology Information Transfer Club was taken by Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association. The objective of the club was to stimulate the information of links between the food industry and the biotechnology sector. The main club activities were to disseminate information via bulletins (10); seminars (six); and visits to research laboratories (seven). MAFF's involvement was to provide partial financial support for the club as a technology awareness raising project, and to monitor the activities to ensure that agreed objectives were met.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial and other public resources were put into the transfer club for each year until March 1999. [157800]

Ms Quin

Financial resources put into the Modern Biotechnology Information Transfer Club were as follows:

Year ending £
March 1997 15,000
March 1998 9,900
March 1999 7,500
Total 32,400

Financial resources put in by industry through club membership fees were £57,412, representing 64 per cent. of total costs.

The only other public resources put into the club were for monitoring purposes to ensure that contractors were meeting objectives.

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