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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether she has communicated the shortcomings of the farm scale evaluation maize trials to the lead competent authority in France in accordance with Directive 2001/18/EC; and whether she has requested a variation in the conditions attached to the Part C consent for Chardon LL fodder maize; [162923] (2) when she was informed that cattle feeding studies involving Chardon LL fodder maize had been requested by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and the Advisory Committee on Animal Feeding Stuffs; [162979] (3) whether (a) meat and (b) milk from the cattle involved in the Chardon LL feeding studies at Reading University has entered the food chain; [162982] Mrs. Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she gave consent for harvested Chardon LL forage maize from farm-scale evaluation sites to be taken off-site and used in cattle feeding studies at the Reading University Centre for Dairy Research. [163076] Mr. Morley :[holding answer 23 March 2004]: I am not aware of any shortcomings of the farm-scale evaluation (FSE) maize trials, the results have been endorsed by both the Scientific Steering Committee overseeing the evaluations and the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE). Officials sent the results of the Farm Scale Evaluations, together with the non-specialist and scientific summaries, to the European Commission and the Competent Authorities of the Member States for their information on 20 and 21 October 2003. ACRE published its advice on the FSE results on 13 January 2004, and this advice was also sent to the Commission and the Competent Authorities on that date. On 9 March 2004 officials wrote 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. Neither the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment nor the Advisory Committee on Animal Feeding stuffs (ACAF) has requested cattle feeding studies involving Chardon LL fodder maize. ACAF has advised, on the basis of the data already submitted, that it is content that the T25 maize grain and its products pose no more risk as animal feed than non-GM maize varieties. The GM maize used in the farm scale evaluations has Europe wide marketing consent for use in animal feed so no consent was required to use the harvested crop in the cattle feeding study carried out at the University of Reading. Although there is no legal requirement to withhold the milk or meat from the food chain the protocol for the Reading University study required that the milk from the dairy cows did not enter the food chain during the period of the study.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

419 c1093-4W;419 c1095-6W; 162923;162979;162982

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Crops Animal feed Animal products Genetically modified organisms Research Maize

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk