Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current stage in decision-making on European Parliament and United Kingdom regulations about permitting genetically modified organisms to be used in agriculture in the United Kingdom and other European countries.

Regulatory decisions on the use of genetically modified (GM) products are taken collectively at EU level. The EU has authorised the marketing of over forty different types of GM crop as imported food or feed products, and GM soya in particular is being widely used in the UK and across the EU as an animal feed ingredient. However only one type of GM crop is approved for commercial planting in the EU, an insect-resistant maize of no practical interest for UK farmers. That authorisation was granted in 1998, since when the EU has struggled to reach decisions on GM cultivation because of different views among the Member States. A proposal is being discussed that should make it easier to reach EU decisions, by giving Member States more national discretion to avoid GM cultivation in their own territory. The European Parliament is now considering the proposal and it could be adopted next year if the Parliament and Council can reach agreement on the specific provisions.