(2) what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the potential effects of Terminator seed technology on food security and the livelihoods of poor farmers in developing countries.
DFID takes genetic modification (GM) in crops and foods and its potential impacts on poor people in developing countries very seriously.
On terminator technology (Genetic Use Restriction Technology or GURTs) the 190 countries which have signed up to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD) decided in 2000 that products incorporating GURTs should not be approved for field testing or commercial use until appropriate scientific assessments have been carried out and the conditions for their safe and beneficial use validated. This decision was reaffirmed in 2006 and remains in force. The 2006 decision also called for respect of farmers' rights to seed preservation and for further research on the impacts of GURTs.
DFID adheres to the moratorium and has not therefore commissioned any recent research, nor has DFID conducted any reviews or evaluations of the potential effects of Terminator seed technology on food security and on the livelihoods of poor farmers in developing countries.