§ Mr. GroganTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her responsibilities relating to the inclusion of GM crops on the UK National Seed List as it applies in(a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland. [166523]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3510) deal with the acceptance of agricultural plant varieties onto the National Lists of varieties. These Regulations apply to both conventional and GM varieties. The National Lists are United Kingdom lists.
The National Authorities have the joint responsibility to decide whether a plant variety has met the criteria in the Regulations in order that it can be added to the relevant National List. The 'National Authorities' are defined for the purpose of the Regulations as:
- in respect of England. the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;
- in respect of Scotland, the Scottish Ministers;
- in respect of Wales, the National Assembly for Wales; and
- in respect of Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.