GM Crops (Hansard, 19 April 2004)

§ Mr. Stephen O'Brien
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consultations she has held with businesses affected by adding GM maize to the National Seed List. [164023]

§ Mr. Morley
Under National List legislation, before any variety is added to the list any person who would be affected by the proposed decision is given the opportunity to make written representations or request a hearing on the matter.
Details of the proposal to add the only GM variety to date, the forage maize Chardon LL to the National List were published in the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette No. 423 (March 2000).
227 individuals/organisations submitted written representations of which 60 also requested a hearing. Three further individuals/organisations requested a hearing only.
The public hearing opened on 2 October 2000 and a digest of the matters raised at the hearing was published in December 2002.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what results she has received from the Chardon LL cattle feeding studies completed at the Reading University center for Dairy Research in 2002. [164956]

§ Mr. Morley
I have not seen the results of this cattle feeding study, which was privately funded research undertaken by Reading University. Publication of the results of studies carried out by the university is a matter for them and those funding the work. However, I understand that the researchers intend to submit their study and the results to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made(a) of the extent to which the 1998–99 National List Trials for Chardon LL were (i) independent and (ii) impartial and (b) of their value in determining whether to place the variety on the National Seeds Register. [164957]

§ Mr. Morley
The National List trial programme for maize in 1998–9 comprised four trial sites in each year, plus a reserve site.
A thorough evaluation of all the data used for the assessment of Chardon LL in National List trials was conducted by the independent experts on the Herbage Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) group. The group recommended that data from one site in 1999 should be excluded because of substandard plant populations. This was done and data from the reserve site used instead.
126W

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Chardon LL cattle feeding studies at Reading University have cost public funds. [164959]

§ Mr. Morley
There has been no cost to public funds. I understand the study carried out at Reading University was privately funded.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what provision she has made to ensure that Chardon LL maize will not be added to the National Seed List before arrangements have been made to restrict herbicide use to the regime used for the farmscale evaluation programme. [164960]

§ Mr. Morley
In her statement of 9 March my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs made it clear that Chardon LL would not be added to the UK National List until the Part C release consent had been amended in accordance with ACRE's advice. Officials have written to the French Competent Authority, which issued the relevant consent on behalf of all EU member states, seeking amendments to the consent for Bayer T25 GM maize (Chardon LL) to limit herbicide use with the crop in line with ACRE's advice on the FSE results.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she was informed of the recommendation of Professor David Beever that no new maize variety should be placed upon the National Seeds Register unless it achieves a whole-plant target of 32 per cent. [164961]

§ Mr. Morley
The dry matter content achieved for maize crops depends on location, climate and variety. Views on the optimum value vary and the realistic situation is that it falls within a range of around 28–32 per cent., depending on local factors. The importance of dry matter content is taken into account in the National List system, but it is only one of a number of factors which are assessed.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the involvement of Grainseed in the conduct of the National List trials for Chardon LL in 1998 and 1999 on behalf of the British Plant Breeders Society and the impact on their research findings. [164962]

§ Mr. Morley
A thorough evaluation of all the data used for the assessment of Chardon LL in National List trials was conducted by the independent experts on the Herbage Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) group. The group recommended that the 1998 Grainseed data were acceptable as part of a valid assessment of the performance of Chardon LL. However, the group recommended that the 1999 Grainseed data should he excluded because of substandard plant populations. This was done and data from a reserve site used instead.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the new Norwegian research on the safety of the CaMV promoter used in the Chardon LL transgenic insert. [164963]
127W

§ Mr. Morley
The reported new scientific evidence from Norway on the cauliflower mosaic virus promoter has yet to be published. When the details of this research do become available, the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), which advises the Government on the risks posed by the intentional release of GMOs, will be asked to evaluate these data and advise on their implications for existing consents and future applications.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence she has collated, in the absence of ruminant feeding studies, that Chardon LL has added value for cultivation and use in the United Kingdom. [164964]

§ Mr. Morley
The criterion for adding a variety to the UK National List is that it should, taking its qualities as a whole, represent a clear improvement compared with other forage maize varieties already on the UK List. Chardon has been assessed on this basis and found to meet the performance standards set to indicate a clear improvement in value for cultivation and use. The evidence for this is that in National List trials, Chardon's results met the improvement standards for several important characteristics. Animal feeding studies are not required for this assessment.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she has taken to ensure that the Reading University cattle feeding studies involving Chardon LL fodder maize will be scientifically robust and independent of(a) Government and (b) GM crop technology companies. [164965]

§ Mr. Morley
The cattle feeding study carried out by the Reading University was privately funded research. It is therefore not a matter for Government. I understand that the researchers intend to submit their study to a peer reviewed journal for publication so others will be able to assess the data when the peer review process is complete.

§ Mr. Meacher
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she was informed that(a) Liberty on its own had proved ineffective as a herbicide used with GMHT fodder maize crops in the United States and (b) to overcome this problem Bayer has been promoting the use of Liberty/atrazine mix since the spring of 2001. [164966]

§ Mr. Morley
I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer given on 25 March 2004,Official Report, column 997W.

§ Sue Doughty
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has held with scientists who oppose the commercial growing of GM crops in the United Kingdom. [165284]

§ Mr. Morley
The Secretary of State has not held any direct discussion with scientists who oppose the commercial growing of GM crops. However, scientists across the range of opinions were involved in the Science Review strand of the GM public dialogue carried out last year. The GM Science Review Panel itself consisted128W of leading scientists across a range of disciplines and perspectives. Other scientists opposed to the growing of GM crops also attended the open meetings held during the review and contributed written submissions, which are published on the review website. Their views are reflected in the two reports published by the GM Science Review.

§ Mr. Peter Ainsworth
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment was made during the GM Farm Scale Evaluations of the environmental impact of treating Chardon LL maize with more than six litres per hectare of glufosinate ammonium. [165374]

§ Mr. Morley
In the farm-scale evaluations the terms of the pesticide approval for the use of glufosinate ammonium on GM maize Chardon LL permitted a maximum individual (single-dose) application rate of 4 litres per hectare and the maximum total rate permitted was 8 litres per hectare.
The results of the evaluations, including those where the total application rate was more than 6 litres per hectare, are given in the paper by G T Champion et al published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, series B, volume:358, number 1439, last autumn. Defra officials sent the hon. Member a copy of these papers on 24 October 2003 and a copy is also available in the Library.