To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many genetically modified animals, by species, have been exported in each year from 1990 to date, and to where. [81262]
[holding answer 19 April 1999]: The information requested is not available. There is no requirement to keep or collect such information.Anyone intending to use premises for the keeping of genetically modified animals in the United Kingdom must give prior notification to the Health and Safety Executive under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations, but there is no requirement to keep records of the export of such animals.
The keeping of genetically modified mammals is subject to licencing by the Home Office and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. The Home Office collects figures on the discharge of transgenic animals but these figures do not distinguish between export and other methods of discharge such as humane killing.