Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what data they used to estimate the potential commercial benefits of implementing the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra economists, with oversight by the Chief Economist, compiled the Department’s De Minimis Assessment of the impacts of The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025. The assessment was based on published independent market research and academic studies, and reports by economic institutions.
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the Delegated Legislation Committee on 31 March (HC Deb col 7), what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the precision breeding of animals and birds on (1) animal welfare, (2) disease risk management and (3) the risk to consumers if precision bred animals are sold commercially.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The regulatory measures in the Precision Breeding Act are designed to safeguard animal welfare and ensure that the health and welfare of relevant animals (defined as vertebrates) will not be adversely affected by any trait that results from precision breeding. We are considering the requirements for this regulatory framework and have commissioned three research projects from Scotland's Rural College to support this.
The scientific advice is that precision bred organisms pose no greater risk to the environment or health than traditionally bred organisms. This advice is consistent across scientific sources and is supported by expert advisory committees and institutions, such as the European Food Safety Authority.
There are provisions in the Precision Breeding Act to introduce regulations to ensure that food and feed from precision bred organisms is safe.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the corrected Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 21 March (HL6286), what consideration they have given to the impact of the increased bundling together of computer hardware with operating systems and browsers on the definition of electrical and electronic equipment specified in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Electrical and electronic equipment in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive is defined as that “which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly" and "equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields” below specified voltages.
Whilst the Directive does provide for certain exclusions, the Government believes that the definition is already sufficiently broad to embrace technological change and computer hardware that incorporates browsers and operating systems.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the corrected Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 21 March (HL6286), what consideration they have given to the impact of technological change on the definition of electrical and electronic equipment specified in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Electrical and electronic equipment in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive is defined as that “which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly" and "equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields” below specified voltages.
Whilst the Directive does provide for certain exclusions, the Government believes that the definition is already sufficiently broad to embrace technological change and computer hardware that incorporates browsers and operating systems.