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Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 24 May 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 May 2005. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Monday, 6 June 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Genetically Modified Maize

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Government had had sight of the EU study into the effects of rats being fed Monsanto's MON 863 maize when it voted in favour of the application to import MON 863 at meetings of the Regulatory Committee on 29 November 2004 and 19 May 2005; and whether she has made a subsequent assessment of MON 863 in the light of this study.
Answer

I confirm that before voting on the dates mentioned the Government had seen both the rat feeding study submitted by Monsanto to support its applications under EU regulations and the critique of the study submitted by the German authoritiesThe votes taken on 29 November 2004 and 19 May 2005 relate to two separate applications on GM maize MON 863. The first related to the import of maize grain for use as any other maize (including feed but excluding cultivation) and the second to food products. Both dossiers will now go to the Council of Ministers for decisions as no qualified majority was reached at the respective committees.The vote on 29 November related to the application by Monsanto via the German authorities under Directive 2001/18/EC for the import and use of GM maize grain, including feed but excluding food and cultivation. Monsanto's dossier included data from a rat feeding study. The German authorities submitted the dossier to other member states with a favourable opinion. In the UK the application was considered by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and the Advisory Committee on Animal Feed and based on their advice the UK gave a favourable opinion on this application.The vote on 19 May was on an application made to the German authorities in August 2002 under the novel food regulations (EC) 258/97. This application is for food use of ingredients derived from GM maize MON 863. This dossier also included the results of the rat feeding study. The initial opinion from the German authorities was referred to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which concluded that MON 863 maize will not have an adverse effect on human health. This conclusion has been endorsed by the UK expert committee, the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes.In September 2004 the German authorities submitted a critique of the rat feeding study by Professor Pusztai. This highlighted a number of features of the study that appeared to indicate adverse effects of the GM maize. EFSA examined this document and issued a statement in September 2004 that confirmed its earlier conclusions. At the same time, the rat feeding study was independently re-examined by the GM sub-group of the UK's Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs, which confirmed that this was a normal and well-conducted study that did not indicate any adverse effects.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
1506; 434 c257-8W;434 c259-60W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Animal feed Health hazards Genetically modified organisms Food EU action Safety Maize