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Written question asked by Llew Smith (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 June 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 17 June 2003. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 June 2003 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what efforts have been made to publicise the national debate on genetically modified organisms and GM foods; and on what television and radio programmes ministers in her Department have appeared since 1st May to provide advanced information on the national GM debate.
Answer

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what efforts have been made to publicise the national debate on genetically modified organisms and GM foods; and on what television and radio programmes Ministers in her Department have appeared since 1 May 2003 to provide advanced information on the national GM debate. [117632] Mr. Morley: GM Nation?--the public debate on GM issues--is being run by an independent Steering Board. The announcement of the debate and appointment of the Board were well publicised in the media last July. All meetings of the Steering Board are held in public and the minutes of the meetings and other key documents are available on the debate website, which has kept the debate in the public eye throughout the year. The Steering Board is responsible for publicising the debate at arm's length from Government. The Steering Board announced their detailed plans for the debate through a press release issued on 13 May 2003. This was pro-actively sent to over 150 national, regional and specialist correspondents and received wide coverage. Professor Malcolm Grant, chair of the Steering Board, sent a letter to all local authorities and hundreds of other organisations at the same time, inviting them to get involved and host their own regional or local meetings. Professor Grant launched the debate on 3 June 2003 at a well-attended press conference, which attracted extensive media coverage. In addition, members of the Steering Board have given interviews to national and local media to help publicise the GM debate. Since 1 May 2003, Ministers have given interviews on aspects of the GM public debate to BBC Radio 4 Farming Today, the Today Programme, Radio 5 Live, BBC Breakfast Television News, BBC News 24 and Channel 4 News.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
117632; 407 c182W
Session
2002-03
Subjects
Broadcasting programmes Genetically modified organisms Food Publicity Public participation Ministers Radio Television
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk