- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 25 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the farm scale evaluation gives a true indication of any environmental harm caused by Chardon LL mai'e, in light of the conclusions of the recent report of the Westminster Environmental Audit Committee GM Food - Evaluating the field scale trials.
Answer
The Scottish Executive, the Science Review, and the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment(ACRE) are all satisfied that the methods used in the farm scale trials forboth design and analysis were valid and robust. They are the most extensive andthorough evaluations of their kind in the world, and gave a clear picture of the changes in biodiversity caused by different herbicide regimes used on geneticallymodified (GM) and conventional crops, including maize.
ACRE recommended that studies were initiated to considerthe validity of the results in light of the phasing out of Atrazine. Furtheranalysis of the farm scale evaluation (FSE) data has been published in the peerreviewed scientific journal Nature. This work concludes that the banning of Atrazine is unlikely to undermine theconclusions of the FSEs.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any human feeding studies using GM foods have been carried out and, if so, what the results were.
Answer
I am advised by the FoodStandards Agency that all GM foods aresubject to a rigorous safety assessment before they can be marketed anywhere inthe EU. The safety of all novel foods, including GM foods, is assessed on anEU-wide basis using internationally agreed procedures that are recognised byregulatory authorities world-wide. No human feeding studies have been carriedout under these procedures.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has responsibility, under Article 11 of the EC Habitats Directive, for the surveillance of the conservation status of priority habitats and species in Scotland and, if not, where the responsibility lies.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has responsibility for ensuring the requirements of Article 11 areadhered to in Scotland.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive who should be liable for any economic damage caused by material from genetically modified crops if they are cultivated in Scotland.
Answer
We will consult allconcerned on the most appropriate co-existence arrangements for Scotland todeliver choice for both consumers and farmers and on possible compensationarrangements for farmers who suffer economic loss. The present presumption isthat any compensation scheme would need to be funded by the GM crops industry,rather than by the Executive or producers of non-GM crops.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult the Parliament before making any decisions on the approval of Chardon LL mai'e.
Answer
As noted in myministerial statement on 10 March 2004, Chardon LL maizereceived EU-wide approval Part C approval in 1998. We are currently seeking anamendment to this consent.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements have been made for environmental groups and others to peer review the farm scale evaluations, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland.
Answer
The results of the farmscale evaluations were peer reviewed and published in the
PhilosophicalTransactions of The Royal Society: Biological Sciences. They wereimmediately forwarded to the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment(ACRE) for advice on the implications for the possible commercialisation ofthese specific GM crops.
In line with the PartnershipAgreement, environmental groups and other interested parties were invited tosubmit their comments on the results to ACRE. In addition ACRE accepted the Executive’s invitation to hold an openmeeting in Edinburgh, on 4 December 2003, to afford Scottishstakeholders the opportunity to present oral evidence and discuss the results.
All oral and written evidence,including the outcomes of the Edinburgh meeting, were considered by ACRE beforethey gave their advice to government.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the number of sites containing (a) active raised bog and (b) degraded raised bog capable of regeneration is included in currently proposed Special Areas for Conservation.
Answer
Twenty five sites have been designated as candidate SpecialAreas of Conservation for active raised bog in Scotland. This is around 9% of the sites identified as supporting some amount of active bog in the ScottishNatural Heritage report
An inventory of lowland raised bogs in Great Britain (Lindsay, R.A. and Immirzi,P., 1996).
Twenty two sites have beendesignated as candidate Special Areas of Conservation for degraded raised bogstill capable of natural regeneration. This is just over 6% of the sitesidentified as supporting some amount of bog capable of regeneration in the samereport.
Many of the sites describedin the inventory are small remnants of previously larger sites.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the release of Chardon LL mai'e is still legal under EU directive 2001/18/EC, given that its transgenic insert changed from the structure reported in the company's original dossier.
Answer
The Advisory Committee onReleases to the Environment (ACRE) has recently considered two reports whichclaimed that independent analysis had identified discrepancies in the molecularcharacterisation of approved GM products.
ACRE consider that the additional information was due torecent improvements in the methods for the analysis of transformation events anddid not give rise to an additional risk. However, ACRE haverequested further information to allow them to complete their own analysis and,if necessary, will review relevant risk assessments in light of this information.
ACRE are satisfied that the original consent remainslegal since there is no evidence that the GM insert in Chardon LL maize haschanged.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what studies on hori'ontal gene flow from GM crops have been carried out and what the results of any such studies were.
Answer
The review of GM scienceexamined the issue of horizontal gene flow and concluded that it is veryinfrequent and could happen whether the plant was transgenic, conventional ororganic. However, the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environmentconsiders the potential consequences of horizontal gene flow, as part of theircase-by-case assessment. This approach is endorsed by the Science Review Panel.
The Executive, together withthe other UK Administrations, acknowledges that further research would bebeneficial to improve knowledge and understanding of soil ecosystems.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether experiences of farmers in North America have informed any decision on the possible future of genetically modified organisms.
Answer
The Executive’s policy on GMcrops is based on all relevant information.
Farming conditions in North Americaare vastly different to farming conditions in Scotland. As such theexperiences of North American farmers are not directly relevant to the Scottishsituation. However, our expert advisory committees continually monitor all newscientific developments and if necessary update their advice.
Unlike North American governments,we intend to introduce statutory co-existence measures to protect the interestsof non-GM farmers.
