Question reference: S2W-01716
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 30 July 2003
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Current status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 August 2003
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for how long farmers contracted to grow GM oilseed rape during Her Majesty's Government's field-scale evaluation (FSE) programme are legally required to prevent any GM material from entering the supply chain and whether, in the case of tenanted land involved in the FSE trials, any such legal obligation is binding on a landlord and successor tenants in the event of the original farmer ceasing to be the tenant.
Answer
Consents to release GM material as part of the farm-scale evaluations are held by the biotechnology company concerned. It is their responsibility to ensure that the conditions of consent are adhered to, whether the land is farmed by the owner or a tenant. As a condition of the consent under which GM oil seed rape has been grown as part of the FSE programme, conventional oil seed rape must not be grown on the same field for the following two years. This period may be reviewed by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) for future consents in the light of emerging research findings. Notwithstanding the specific conditions in relation to an FSE consent, however, there remains a general requirement not to market products containing GMOs without an appropriate consent.