Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Thursday, 15 January 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 22 January 2004. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Thursday, 22 January 2004 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, if she will make a statement on the evaluation of the costs and benefits of the commercial cultivation of GM crops in the UK over the next 10 to 15 years.

Answer: Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the evaluation of the costs and benefits of the commercial cultivation of GM crops in the UK over the next 10 to 15 years. [148905] Mr. Morley: As part of the GM dialogue the Strategy Unit carried out a study of the costs and benefits of GM crops. This looked at not only the range of GM crops currently available, but also those that might be available in 10-15 years. The unit concluded that GM crops could offer some cost and convenience advantages to UK farmers, although any economic benefit is likely to be limited in the short-term as only a narrow range of existing GM crops are currently suited to UK conditions, and weak consumer demand may limit take-up. In the longer term it concluded that future developments in GM crops have the potential to offer more wide-ranging benefits, to both farmers and consumers.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 416 c1368-9W;416 c1366W; 148905
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Crops Agriculture Cost benefit analysis Genetically modified organisms Research
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk