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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Magistrates Courts (Adjournments)

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what targets he has set magistrates courts for the number and duration of adjournments. [125039]

Jane Kennedy: The Lord Chancellor has set no targets for magistrates courts in terms of the number and duration of adjournments although he has spoken out strongly against any culture of granting adjournments too readily. The Government are committed to reducing delay in the criminal justice system. The Lord Chancellor has encouraged benches to give rigorous consideration to requests for adjournments, whether from the prosecution or the defence, to the amount of time sought and whether it is genuinely required in the interests of justice.

Civil Law Convention

Mr. Hope: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the Government will ratify the Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on corruption; and if he will make a statement. [125583]

Mr. Lock: I am pleased to be able to announce that the Lord Chancellor has today signed the Civil Law Convention during the course of the Conference of the European Ministers of Justice.

The Government have strongly supported the programme of action undertaken by the Council of Europe in the fight against corruption. The Civil Law Convention

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is an innovative and important international legal instrument which will enable victims of corruption to obtain appropriate remedies in the civil courts of all states who ratify the Convention. The United Kingdom is not in a position to ratify the Convention at present, because the requirements of the Convention with regard to the rules of limitation for civil proceedings go further than is provided for by current UK law. However, the Law Commission is currently considering the rules relating to limitation of actions and the Government will review this issue as soon as the Law Commission's Report is available.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Cattle Diseases

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on future testing in England for the cattle diseases enzootic bovine leukosis and brucellosis. [125582]

Ms Quin: We are issuing a consultation paper on proposed changes to the way cattle health testing for enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) and brucellosis is carried out in England. This is part of a GB wide initiative and is a direct result of our gaining of "officially EBL free" region status within the EU and the continued recognition of GB status as an "officially brucellosis free" region within the EU.

It is proposed to amend the EBL Order to take account of new reduced test frequencies. For dairy cattle these would reduce milk testing from three times a year to twice in every fifth year. For beef suckler herds these would reduce blood testing from once every second year to once every fourth year. The proposed reductions are in line with veterinary advice. We aim to have the new arrangements introduced by September this year and fully effective by April next year.

No changes are currently proposed for brucellosis testing. Test frequencies for brucellosis are currently subject to review but results are not expected before August. GB has had low or no incidence of brucellosis since 1993.

Since these proposals would require changes to the EBL Order we are also proposing to simplify publication of the list of laboratories approved to do milk testing and clarify the use of laboratory approval. We propose that these changes are also carried over into a remade Brucellosis Order and that both new orders take full account of devolution.

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I am pleased that, in this consultation, we are able to recommend reducing monitoring for EBL in England now that we have "officially EBL free region" status for GB. This reduces costs and burdens for both industry and the public purse and is in line with EU requirements.

Correspondence

Mr. Gill: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will reply to the letter of 28 April from the hon. Member for Ludlow about abattoir closures. [123097]

Ms Stuart: I have been asked to reply.

I replied to the to the hon. Member on 22 May.

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends to reply to the letter of 18 October 1999 from the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East, in respect of which a reminder letter was sent on 17 February. [124807]

Ms Quin: I replied to the letter from the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East on 7 June.

Crop Contamination

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Government plan to make public the location of crop sites sown with Advanta rapeseeds contaminated with GM rapeseeds. [124156]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: The company is taking action to inform affected farmers. There are no safety implications which would necessitate identifying the location of affected crops.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what obligations EU member states have to inform one another and the Commission of incidents in which conventional crop seed traded across international boundaries is found to be contaminated with genetically modified crop seed. [124150]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: I am not aware of any specific obligations that require member states to inform one another and the Commission of incidents involving the contamination of non-GM seeds with GM seeds. However, member states have exchanged information on a voluntary basis and have been making public statements about such incidents.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reports he has received concerning the date that the German authorities discovered that conventional Advanta rapeseed had been contaminated with genetically modified rapeseed. [124149]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: Advanta have told me that the German authorities informed them of their findings on 3 April.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the advice he has received from the (a) Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, (b) Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes and (c) Food Standards Agency, about the risks to human health and the environment from the contamination of Advanta rape seed by GM crops. [124137]

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Mr. Nick Brown: [holding answer 5 June 2000]: The advice of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, and the Food Standards Agency has already been placed in the Libraries of the House and is available on the MAFF website.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in full the information made available by Advanta UK on the contamination of conventional rapeseed with genetically modified rapeseed. [124147]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: The main points of the information provided by Advanta were described in the Government's announcement on 17 May and in my statement of 19 May. The company also published information in a news release on 17 May.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reports he received, prior to being made aware of the contamination of conventional Advanta rapeseed with genetically modified seed, of similar incidents involving crop seeds imported into European Union member states, indicating when each such report was received. [124145]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: None.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Government have designated an acceptable level of seed purity in the case of conventional crop seeds in relation to contamination with GM seeds. [124153]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: There are currently no levels set for the presence of GM seeds in non-GM seeds. The Government will be participating in discussions within the EC and the OECD on this matter.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Government were first (1) advised by Advanta Seeds UK that supplies of its conventional rapeseed contained genetically modified rapeseed; [124143]

(2) informed that supplies of conventional Advanta rapeseed had been or may have been contaminated with genetically modified rapeseed. [124144]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: DETR and MAFF officials were informed by Advanta Seeds UK on 17 April that supplies of conventional Advanta rapeseed might have been affected by the presence of genetically modified rapeseed.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reason the announcement about the contamination of conventional Advanta rapeseed was made on 17 May. [124146]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: The announcement on 17 May was made to inform Parliament and interested parties of the action which the Government were taking to address the issue of seed purity.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which statutory bodies prior to 17 April had a legal responsibility to ensure the seed purity of imported supplies. [124165]

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Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: The legal duty and responsibility to ensure the seed purity of imported supplies lies with the seeds authorities in the producer country and with the seed merchant marketing the seed in this country.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will review the separation distances between GM and non-GM crops. [124164]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: Yes. I announced this in my speech to the House earlier today.

Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to the answer given on 17 May 2000, Official Report, column 173W, if the report on the study of seed sourcing and the possibility of GM seed in imported seed is now available. [125581]

Ms Quin: The report of the preliminary findings of the study has been placed in the Library of the House and will be made available on the Ministry website. The Government inspection programme being undertaken by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions will be focused on those imported seed species which are identified as most likely to be affected. Further studies are in hand.

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