GM Crops (Hansard, 16 October 2003)

§ Mr. Paul Marsden
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the locations of current GM crop trials in Shropshire. [132303]

§ Mr. Morley
There are currently no GM crop trials in the UK.

§ Mr. Steen
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes. concerning genetically-modified food dated 3 July 2003. Defra ref: 183640. [131544]
301W

§ Mr. Morley
[holding answer 14 October 2003]: My officials wrote to the hon. Member on 18 July 2003, stating that the letter had been transferred to Food Standards Agency (FSA) for reply.
The FSA report to Parliament through Health Ministers, and I understand that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health (Miss Melanie Johnson) wrote to the hon. Member on 21 September 2003.

§ Mr. Rosindell
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment. Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of GM-free zones; and what plans she has to allow GM crops to be planted alongside conventional crops. [132116]

§ Mr. Morley
We will consider the terms on which GM and non-GM crops might co-exist when we have received a report on this subject from the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission. This is due shortly. We are also considering our broader policy on GM crops in the light of all the available information, including the report of the GM public debate. It is not clear how compulsory GM-free zones would be consistent with European Union law. However, the European Commission has suggested that voluntary GM-free areas might be acceptable in circumstances where, for practical reasons, it is very difficult to achieve satisfactory co-existence arrangements.