Questions
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government on which occasions the Food Standards Agency have asked the GM advisory committees (ACAF, ACNFP and ACRE) to scrutinise the scientific dossiers submitted by applicants for GM approvals. [HL2619]
Until 2004, the committees advising the Food Standards Agency (FSA) examined all dossiers submitted for the authorisation of genetically modified (GM) food and GM animal feed, under Regulation (EC) 258/97 and Directive 2001/18/EC respectively.
Since 2004, applications for approval of GM food and feed have been submitted under Regulation (EC) 1829/2003, which provides a centralised European Union procedure for the assessment and approval of GM food and feed. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has responsibility for risk assessments under this regulation. The FSA does not ask its advisory committees to duplicate EFSA's assessments but would be able to do so where there is a specific food safety issue to be resolved.
The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) is an expert committee that advises the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on environmental issues. Defra seeks the committee's advice on the environmental implications of all proposals to release GM seeds for cultivation and on applications to market food or feed products that consist of living GM organisms.
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 17 December 2008 (WA 43), what has been the advice of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes on the implications of research studies on the safety of genetically modified crops. [HL2622]
The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes considered the three papers referred to in the previous Written Answer at its meeting on 19 February 2009. The committee considered that the results in all three papers were inconclusive and no conclusions could be drawn from them. The committee's discussions are recorded in the minutes of its February 2009 meeting, which are available on its website at www.acnfp.gov.uk/meetings/acnfpmeet09/acnfpfeb09/acnfpmin190209.