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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether she has given consent for harvested Chardon LL fodder 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; [160575] (2) whether the Government's policy on harvested material from GM crops involved in the farm-scale evaluation programme being fed to animals or otherwise entering the food chain has changed; [160576] (3) what steps she has taken to ensure that no milk or meat from the cattle involved in the Chardon LL feeding studies at Reading University has entered the food chain. [160577] Mr. Morley: 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. The agreement made with the Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops (SCIMAC) in November 1999 requires that none of the produce from GM crop plantings in the UK will be used in a way which is of direct commercial benefit to the consent- holders during the farm scale evaluation period. The policy on use of harvested material, as outlined in the SCIMAC agreement, has not changed. Although there is no legal requirement to withhold the milk or meat from the food chain and there is no discernable difference between meat and milk from animals fed GM feed and those not, 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 c697-8W;419 c699-700W; 160575;160576;160577

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Crops Animal feed Genetically modified organisms Research Maize University of Reading

Link

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