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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the (a) budgeted and (b) actual expenditure of each of the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department for each of the last three years, and the (i) budgeted and (ii) projected expenditure for this year and each of the next three years. [121423]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 9 May 2000]: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

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Irish Milk Quota

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his oral statement of 11 May 2000, Official Report, column 1031, concerning the Irish milk quota, if he will identify the agreement cited by the Irish Government; and on what basis it bound British negotiators, and those of other parties, to accept Irish demands on milk quota. [122971]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 May 2000]: The agreement that the Irish Government used in the Agenda 2000 negotiations was reached in the Agriculture Council of March 1984. This agreement stated that when distributing quota from the reserve, priority will be given to Ireland.

Ireland was able to cite this agreement, to which the UK Government of the time had been a party, in its argument to negotiate an additional allocation of quota.

Farm Incomes

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what effect the funding arrangements for the expansion of the agri-environment schemes will have on overall farm incomes. [122968]

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Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 May 2000]: Section 7 of the England Rural Development Plan describes the economic impact on farmers of the Rural Development Regulation and the mechanism for funding the measures. Copies of the Plan were placed in the Library of the House.

Rural Development Scheme

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his oral statement of 11 May 2000, Official Report, column 1028, concerning the redistributive effects of the England rural development scheme, if he will provide estimates of the projected redistribution in each English region. [122967]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 May 2000]: Each English region is being allocated funds for the Rural Enterprise Scheme, Training measure and processing and Marketing Grants to enable them to identify projects which meet regionally identified priorities. Funds are being apportioned on the basis of objective criteria such as agricultural productivity and labour force.

Crop Contamination

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the advice he received about the contamination by GMOs of rape seed together with a list of all those who were consulted and the dates on which he first contacted them after 17 April. [123832]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 25 May 2000]: Since 17 April Ministers have sought advice on this matter from the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF). Ministers initially received informal advice from ACRE and the FSA, which was subsequently confirmed in formal advice. That advice has been published. Informal advice has been received from ACAF and formal advice is awaited. This will be published when it is received.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Government will restrict the import of crop seeds described as GM-free from countries in which separation distances between GM crops and GM-free crops are less than in the United Kingdom. [124157]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 June 2000]: The marketing of seeds imported into the EC from non-EC countries is governed by EC equivalence arrangements.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information the Government have obtained from parties other than Advanta UK on the contamination of conventional Advanta rapeseed with genetically modified rapeseed; and when such information was received. [124148]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: Apart from that supplied by Advanta, we have received information on the GM rapeseed inadvertently planted in the UK from the Canadian authorities. On 25 May the Canadian Food Inspection Agency provided preliminary information about the production of the relevant seed in Canada. A Ministry official went to Canada on 26 May

22 Jun 2000 : Column: 298W

to liaise further with the Canadian authorities, who are still investigating how the conventional rapeseed came to be affected. We remain in close touch with them on this.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his oral statement of 18 May 2000, Official Report, columns 473-74, what data he has collated on distances between fields that had been used to produce conventional Advanta rapeseed and the GM crops responsible for the cross-pollination of the conventional crop. [124163]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: The Government have no data yet on distances between fields used to produce the conventional Advanta oilseed rape seed stocks and possible sources of cross-pollination. The Canadian authorities are currently investigating which fields were used in the production of the affected Advanta seed. My Department aims to obtain the results of these investigations at the earliest opportunity.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the crop sites now growing GM oilseed rape as a result of the contamination of Advanta rapeseed with GM rapeseed will be subject to the same controls as crop sites intentionally sown with GM rapeseed for the purposes of a licensed crop trial. [124160]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: All releases of GMOs, whether deliberate or inadvertent, are subject to the provisions of Part VI of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had about liability in cases where (a) conventional crop seed is contaminated with GM crop seed, (b) conventional crops are cross-pollinated by GM crops and (c) conventional crops are contaminated with genetic material from GM crops as a result of other forms of gene flow. [124161]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: I have had discussions recently on various issues relating to GM crops. The question of liability is a matter of civil law and liability will depend on the specific circumstances of each case, including where relevant the contractual arrangements that have been entered into by the parties concerned.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans the Government had in place before 18 May to inform farmers of the contamination of conventional Advanta rapeseeds with GM rapeseeds; and what changes have been made to those plans since 18 May. [124167]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 5 June 2000]: After learning of the problem Ministers established the factual background and took advice on the health, environmental and legal implications, in order to be able to publish appropriate information. This was published on 17 May. Further information was published as soon as we were in a position to do so.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 8 June 2000, Official Report, column 359W, which Canadian seeds authority was responsible for ensuring the purity of the rapeseed involved in the Advanta GM contamination incident. [126854]

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Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 June 2000]: Responsibility for the purity of certified seed exported from Canada to the UK rests with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, reporting directly to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 8 June 2000, Official Report, column 359W, if he will list the seeds authorities that have a legal responsibility for ensuring the purity of seeds exported from the UK; and which Government Department is responsible. [126853]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 19 June 2000]: The following departments are responsible for ensuring the certification of seeds, including those for export, as prescribed by the seeds regulations. The regulations do not prescribe purity standards for the presence of GM material.




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