This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Approval Granted For Small-Scale Burial Of GM Seed
14/11/2000
The Scottish Agricultural College has been given approval to undertake a small-scale research project on a variety of GM rape seed.
The area of the release is extremely small - only two sq metres - and any plants which emerge will not be allowed to flower or produce pollen. The project involves the burial of a small bag of the seed which is monitored for the appearance of 'volunteer' plants.
This SAC application has been assessed by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, which is satisfied the research can proceed without generating a threat to human health or environmental safety.
The Food Standards Agency, Health and Safety Executive and
BACKGROUND
1. This release is part of a research project at the Scottish Agricultural College into the environmental consequences relating to the introduction of transgenic rapeseed into agricultural systems. It is funded by the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department.
2. The release will take place under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) Regulations. Details of the application will be placed on the Public Register and on the Scottish Executive GM website. The research project is likely to commence in the next few weeks.
3. A 'volunteer' is an agricultural term for a plant which emerges from the seed bank in the soil; either from ungerminated seed from an earlier crop rotation or from cast seed from a parent plant grown on the site previously. Volunteers are a frequent occurrence with rapeseed crops. This research will assist our understanding of how this can be managed in relation to GM rapeseed.
4. The seed to be released is an oilseed rape which has been modified to produce seed with an adjusted fatty acid (high lauric acid) content. This line of transgenic oilseed rape has been released previously throughout the UK over the last 7 years.
News Release: SE2932/2000
14 Nov 2000