Examination of Witnesses (Questions 37-39)
17 MAY 2004
MR MEURIG
RAYMOND AND
MS ELIZABETH
HOGBEN
Q37 Chairman: Mr Raymond, welcome. It
would be useful if you could introduce yourself and Ms Hogben
and say who you are and whom you are representing.
Mr Raymond: Thank you, Chairman.
My name is Meurig Raymond, Vice-President of the National Farmers'
Union of England and Wales representing 130,000 members. May I
introduce Elizabeth Hogben, our Deputy Director in our Brussels
office.
Ms Hogben: Also I used to be the
food science adviser at the NFU based in London covering topics
such as GM crops and biotechnology.
Q38 Chairman: You have obviously got
a taste from those who are against GM and you might want to listen
to the third session, those who will be advocating a GM regime.
I think it would help me to know where you think your members
are, and, therefore, the NFU representing their views, in terms
of this issue of the tolerance level which we took some time at
the beginning of that last session trying to deal with. Do you
think the 0.9% is a realistic and fair way of deciding whether
a particular product is GM or not GM?
Mr Raymond: Thank you. I will
open and then Elizabeth can pick up the technical issues. Obviously
we have consulted with our membership over the years on this issue
of GM, we have listened to our members' views and, as far as the
tolerance level is concerned, we believe 0.9% is reasonable. It
has to be practical, it has to be workable, it has to deliver
and I think as far as the NFU is concerned we do desperately need
a system that is deliverable and practical at farmer level.
Ms Hogben: It may be worth bearing
in mind that we do not see it as our position as a farming organisation
to set threshold levels. However, we are concerned, as the Vice-President
has said, that they have to be practical, that is the main concern,
and should take into account actual farming practice rather than
what is technically possible in terms of detection levels.
Q39 Chairman: So what are you going to
say to a member who actually thought that they were going to be
classified as a GM-free producer and yet they have gone above
the 0.9% threshold? Is that a case that you think is going to
happen sooner rather than later if GM is allowed to be grown commercially?
Mr Raymond: All farmers sell on
contract and they have to abide by those contracts. If 0.9% is
the threshold level we are fairly convinced the majority, all
farmers, will abide by that contract. We have seen it in the past,
we have seen it in seeds that are purchased, that farmers will
sell on contract and those contracts dictate what those thresholds
are to be.
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