Chamber and committees

In order to answer the previous question, enquiries were made of the Headquarters of The Forestry Commission, Historic Scotland and the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency along with the Estate Management section of the Scottish Executive itself. The Agricultural Staff of the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department who are responsible for managing Ministers land settlement estates (99% of which is tenanted croft land) were also consulted. These bodies account for some 800,000 hectares of land owned or controlled by the Scottish Executive. No individual enquiries were made of any specific estate or croft.

The Food Standards Agency has advised me that the EU ASP Working Group requested further information on the variation of toxin levels in individual parts of the scallop. A second, more detailed scientific report addressing this issue has been prepared and will be scrutinised by the working group in early April. The reports were prepared for the EU Working Group and they will decide on the circulation.Additionally work is being progressed by the Agency to ensure a rigorous enforcement regime, and an adequate monitoring programme can be developed which will guarantee consumer safety should a tiered approach be acceptable in scientific terms.

Where possible animals identified as offspring of BSE cases are traced and removed from the human food chain. Officials of the Food Standards Agency, the Scottish Executive and the Ministry of Agriculture are jointly considering whether, in this particular case, the offspring could have been removed at an earlier stage.

We are in regular contact with the UK Government on a range of issues.

An Agriculture Council was scheduled for that week and it was thought that Mr Finnie would attend. The meeting was cancelled but because of an administrative oversight the information which had been entered on the department's database was not amended. Steps have now been taken to prevent similar errors occuring in the future. Information on ministerial attendance at EU meetings provided to the Parliament's Reference Centre has been amended.

No payments can be made to members of the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes before the Scottish Transport Group is wound up.

Recommendation 13 of the Red Tape Review is currently in progress, with two of the specific aspects of this recommendation already completed. Those which remain, specifically regarding oilseeds Regulations and proportionality of penalties, require longer-term action and European Union co-ordination. My department has been pressing the EU on these issues since the publication of the Red Tape Report, and I am pleased to inform that a Commission Working Group has now been established to look at simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy. The UK, along with other member states, are now providing ideas to this group for consideration, and these suggestions will include the complexity of oilseed Regulations and the proportionality of penalties.

A consortium of independent scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Institute of Arable Crops Research and the Scottish Crop Research Institute form the Government-approved research consortium which carries out the ecological research to inform the farm-scale evaluation programme. Their approach is to compare key indicators of biodiversity between the GM and non GM cropping systems.The scientific validity of the research programme is being overseen by a Scientific Steering Committee of independent experts in agriculture and ecology.

The initial identification of individual sites to participate in these trials takes place independently of government and is the responsibility of the Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops, a body representing the interests of the industry including the National Farmers Union within its membership. The proposed sites must meet the criteria set out by the impartial Scientific Steering Committee which oversees the UK farm-scale evaluation programme. They are selected to represent a variety of conditions, such as climate, ecology and soil type as well as farm type and are intended to provide a representative sample of UK agriculture.The Scientific Steering Committee members are:Chairman:Professor Christopher Pollock, Research Director of the Institute of Environmental and Grassland Research.Members:Dr Nicholas Aebisher, Deputy Director of Research for the Game Conservancy TrustDr Alastair Burn, English Nature;Professor Mick Crawley, Imperial College;Dr David Gibbons, Head of Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds;Mr Jim Orson, Director Morley Research Centre;Dr Nick Sotherton, Director of Research for the Game Conservancy Trust;The Scottish Executive is represented on this committee by officials from the Rural Affairs Department who attend meetings and act as assessors.

The current statutory notification period is determined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Scottish Executive is aware however of the limited opportunity which this allows for public consideration and comment. Accordingly, assurances have been sought and gained from the biotechnology companies which will provide a longer notification period for this spring's farm evaluations. The exact period of notification has not yet been determined.