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Farm-Scale Evaluations Of GM Crops: Facts About Spring Plantings
06/02/2001
Every effort will be made to ensure the public is kept fully appraised of developments surrounding the next round of GM crop trials, the Scottish Executive announced today.
The Executive recognise that people have real concerns about GM crops and are therefore fully committed to openness and transparency on the Farm Scale Evaluation programme. It is important for the public to be aware of what is happening in their locality and why.
Details of the proposed sites for the next phase of the UK wide farm-scale evaluation of Genetically Modified crops will be announced shortly.
The procedure for determining trial sites and informing the public of decisions is:
- The Scientific Steering Committee, an independent group that oversees the farm-scale evaluations is due to meet on Friday 9 February to consider the potential sites for spring sown oilseed rape. The site selection process takes place independently of Government.
- It is expected that the proposed sites for spring planting which meet the criteria of the SSC will be notified to the Scottish Executive and UK Government in the week beginning 26 February.
- Formal notification is not made until the industry has confirmed arrangements with each of the farmers volunteering to grow the crop.
- As soon as information becomes available, the Executive will announce the precise locations of any Scottish sites (with six-figure grid references).
- This information will also be placed on the Scottish Executive web-site at www.scotland.gov.uk/gm. At the same time, the Executive will write to all local authorities in whose areas the sites are to be located to alert them to the proposals and to explain the nature and purpose of the evaluations.
- These steps are being taken to give local communities in the vicinity of the sites as much prior notice as possible and is in addition to the statutory notification of sites required of the GM industry body, SCIMAC.
- Public notices will be placed by SCIMAC in local newspapers in the area of the proposed sites. The regulatory process requires a formal notification period of 15 days but Ministers have insisted upon a slightly lengthier period to ensure that everyone with an interest in the programme is aware of the proposals and has the opportunity to comment if they wish.
- Farmers participating in the evaluations are being strongly encouraged by the government and SCIMAC to discuss their cropping plans at the earliest opportunity with their immediate neighbours.
- The Executive is encouraging early dialogue at local level between SCIMAC and local organic growers and beekeeping organisations to discuss how their interests might be addressed.
- Upon receipt of the location details of the proposed sites Scottish Ministers are required to determine whether or not to grant approval. Prior to taking this decision Scottish Ministers will obtain advice from the Scottish Agriculture Science Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Health and Safety Executive and the Food Standards Agency as well as from Scottish Executive officials. They will also consider any representations supported by scientific evidence submitted by the public.
- Approval for Scottish sites to participate in the FSE evaluations will only be granted when Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the GM crop can be grown on the selected sites without posing a threat to the environment or public safety.
- The exact timetable will be determined by the date when site details are formally notified to the Scottish Ministers; a decision on whether approval has been granted for the evaluations to proceed will be announced in late March. If approval is granted, we anticipate that the spring sown crops could be planted on Scottish sites immediately thereafter.
NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS
1. The Farm-Scale Evaluations are a three-year UK wide programme allowing independent researchers to study the effect, if any, that the management practices associated with genetically modified herbicide tolerant crops might have on farmland wildlife, when compared with those used with non-GM crops. GM oilseed rape, maize, fodder beet and sugar beet will be grown as part of the overall UK programme but for climatic reasons only oilseed rape will be grown in Scotland.
2. The evaluation programme will, in total, involve between 60 and 75 fields of each crop type. At the end of the programme in 2003 the results will be reported, made publicly available in peer reviewed journals and considered by the Scottish Executive and UK Government. There will be no commercial cultivation of GM crops in the UK until the programme is completed and evaluated.
3. The farm-scale evaluation programme is overseen by an independent Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) whilst the research is carried out by a consortium of research institutions.
4. The SSC is an independent committee which provides advice on the ecological studies in the farm-scale evaluations to ensure they meet rigorous standards of scientific validity. They decide how many trials need to be done in order to acquire representative scientific data. They also advise on the methodology used in the evaluations. They will handle the results of the farm-scale research receiving progress reports twice yearly, which will be published on the Internet. Its membership includes Professor Chris Pollock (Institute of Grassland & Environmental Research) (Chairman), Dr David Gibbons (RSPB), Professor Mick Crawley (Imperial College), Dr Nick Sotherton (The Game Conservancy Trust), Dr Nicholas Aebischer (The Game Conservancy Trust), Dr Alastair Burn (English Nature) and Mr Jim Orson (Morely Research Centre).
5. The research is being carried out by a consortium of three organisations led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), together with the Institute of Arable Crops Research (ICAR), and the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI).
6. The SSC will meet on 9 February 2001 to review the second-year sites for spring sown oilseed rape and beet proposed by the industry body SCIMAC and shortlisted by the Research Consortium. The committee will then consider at a later time the sites proposed for maize. It is expected that the details of the proposed sites for oilseed rape and beet will be notified to the Scottish Executive and UK Government in the week beginning 26 February and for maize in week commencing 26 March, once SCIMAC have finalised arrangements with the farmers involved. From these weeks precise locations of the sites (with six-figure grid references) will be made publicly available. At the same time the Scottish Executive will write to all local authorities in whose areas the sites are to be located to alert them to proposals and to explain the nature and purpose of the evaluations.
7. Farmers participating in the evaluations will also be encouraged to advise neighbouring farms of their plans to plant a GM crop. Depending on the weather and soil conditions, planting of oilseed rape might then start from mid March and continue in April.
8. The variety of GM oilseed rape to be grown this spring has consent for general release throughout the UK for research and development, including farm-scale evaluations. It has been modified to be tolerant to a specific type of herbicide. However, approval to grow the crop on individual sites for the farm-scale evaluation programme must be sought from the Scottish Executive and UK Government. Approval for these sites will only be granted when Ministers are satisfied that the GM crop can be grown on the notified sites without posing a threat to the environment or public safety.
9. More information about farm-scale evaluations and GM policy is available on the Scottish Executive website: www.scotland.gov.uk/gm.
News Release: SE0258/2001
6 Feb 2001