Conclusion
6.6 This is the latest in a series of proposed
authorisations of a genetically modified product to come before
us following a failure to secure the necessary qualified majority
in the Regulatory Committee established under Directive 2001/18/EC,
notwithstanding the European Food Safety Authority's advice that
use of the product in question for the purpose specified
in this case, for processing into industrial starch is
unlikely to cause any adverse effects on human and animal health
or the environment. Also, as in previous such cases, the UK supported
the proposed authorisation, in the light of the favourable advice
provided by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment.
6.7 There is however one potentially significant
difference between the current proposal, and those we have considered
previously, in that it relates, not just to the marketing of the
product, but to its cultivation within the Community. However,
we note that there is no potato starch processing industry in
this country, and that the UK does not have a quota for the production
and use of starch potatoes. Consequently, although it would in
theory be possible for this crop to be grown in the UK, we have
been advised that the likelihood of this happening in practice
is remote. On that basis, we are content to clear the proposal
on the basis of this Report to the House.
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