§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what separation distance would be required to keep the contamination of non-GM crops with GM varieties below a level of 0.1 per cent. for(a) maize, (b) oil-seed rape and (c) sugar beet. [154708]
§ Mr. MorleyThe European Union has agreed a threshold of 0.9 per cent. for labelling adventitious GM presence in non-GM products. We recognise that there are arguments for a lower threshold to apply particularly in relation to organic production, although no conclusion has been reached on this.
The separation distances needed between fields to limit cross-pollination to 0.1 per cent. (on a whole-field basis) were considered in a review produced for Defra in 2000 by the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB). This suggested the following distances on the basis of fields of an average size of two hectares or more:
- oilseed rape (fully-fertile varieties): 100 metres
- sweetcorn maize: 420 metres
- forage maize: 290 metres
No distance was estimated in relation to sugar beet because cross-pollination does not affect the composition of the utilised plant tissues (only vegetative parts of the plant are harvested, rather than seeds or fruits). Moreover, beet crops are normally harvested before they flower and farmers usually control any `bolting' plants that flower prematurely.
The information in the NIAB report needs to be considered further in the light of data from a Defra-funded research report on gene flow from the GM maize crops in the Farm Scale Evaluation (FSE) trials (available at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/ research/epg-1-5-138.htm). This study concluded that in the case of a GM and non-GM maize crop growing alongside each other, the rate of individual GM cross-pollination events (per maize kernel) would be below 0.1 per cent. at a distance of 258 metres into the non-GM crop. A parallel report on gene flow from the FSE oilseed rape crops is in preparation and will be published in due course.
Another relevant Defra-funded research project has studied landscape-scale gene flow in oilseed rape crops (report available at: www.defra.gov.uk/environments gm/research/epg-rg0216.htm). This does not estimate the separation distances needed for specific cross-pollination thresholds, but it notes that relatively small distances will limit cross-pollination between fully-fertile oilseed rape varieties to around 0.1 per cent. or below, and that pollination from one field to the next is 1632W likely to be less than 0.1 per cent. averaged over the field. At present it is difficult to estimate the separation distances that would be needed for a 0.1 per cent. threshold in relation to oilseed rape varieties that are not fully fertile. Further information that is relevant to this will be provided by the report noted above on gene flow from the FSE oilseed rape crops.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she commissioned into(a) product liability insurance and (b) co-existence, with regard to the possible introduction of GM crops. [159406]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 5 March 2004]: The issues of co-existence and liability have been explored in a report to the Government by the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission. We will set out our thinking on this shortly. The Government have not commissioned any specific research on insurance but has funded various projects on co-existence-related topics. These studies are published on our website www.defra.gov.uk when finalised.