§ Andrew George:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice her Department will offer to the forthcoming EU Regulatory Committee on the application for the sale of Bt 11 GM corn. [140716]
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§ Mr. Morley:Bt 11 GM maize is already available for sale in the EU, including the UK, under a consent granted by the UK in 1998. The scope of this consent was limited to import of grain and processing for animal feed and other non-food uses.
The company that owns Bt 11 GM maize has made a further application for consent for commercial cultivation in the EU and this is currently being considered under EU Directive 2001/18. No date has yet been set for collective EU discussion and decision making on this application in the relevant EU regulatory committee. If such a date is set in the future, my Department will lead in developing a UK line, taking due account of scientific evidence.
An application for use of Bt 11 GM maize in food is also being considered under EC Novel Foods Regulation 258/97. The Food Standards Agency is the UK competent authority and will represent the UK Government at the EC Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health meeting on 8 December 2003 when the application is due to be discussed.
§ Andrew George:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when she expects to make a decision with her European counterparts, on whether the EU will grant a licence for the commercial planting of GM crops; [140847]
(2) what time scale she has set for the determination of applications for licences to grow GM crops in the United Kingdom. [140851]
§ Mr. Morley:Decisions on applications to release particular GM crops for commercial cultivation in the EU—including the UK—are subject to collective EU agreement under the procedures and timetable set down in EC Directive 2001/18. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, whereby each proposed GM product is judged on its own merits according to scientific evidence.
EU-wide licenses for three types of GM maize were granted in 1997–98. None can yet be grown commercially in the UK because no varieties of these three types of GM maize have been added to either the UK national list of seeds or the EU Common Catalogue. One variety, ChardonLL, of the GM maize T25, is awaiting a decision in the UK but this is not expected before the new year.
There are currently 12 pending applications for approval under the directive for commercial cultivation of particular GM crops. Ten are still at the first stage of assessment by the lead member state. The other two have been forwarded by the lead member state with a favourable opinion and are currently being considered by all member states. It is not possible to say precisely when decisions will be taken, but we do not expect any final decisions on current applications before mid-2004.
§ Alan Simpson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the countries where Liberty Link GM maize is commercially grown. [140771]
§ Mr. Morley:This Department does not keep records of countries where Liberty Link GM maize is commercially grown.
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