The Cabinet
Office

Proposed Listing Of GM Maize To National List

UK Ministers today announced that they have proposed a GM forage maize variety (CHARDON LL) for addition to the UK National List.

In a joint statement the Ministers said:

The National List system looks at the agricultural performance of a variety and does not deal with GM safety issues. These are very important but have been dealt with under other regulatory systems. The variety has a marketing clearance under EC GM legislation as well as clearance under the Novel Foods Regulation. It meets all of the legal requirements to be proposed for addition to the National List. Ministers are satisfied that their proposal is wholly consistent with their precautionary, science based approach to GM issues, which will always put public and environmental safety at the forefront of Government decisions."

"This does not mean that CHARDON LL will now be sold commercially in the UK. There is provision for interested parties to make representations leading to an appeals process, before any proposed decision on listing may be finalised.

The Government’s agreement with SCIMAC - representing the seeds/farming/biotec industries - means that there will be no commercialisation of GM maize varieties in the UK until the farm scale evaluation programme has been satisfactorily concluded.

Notes to Editors:

1.The SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops) agreement was established in June 1998. This agreement ensures that there will be no commercial planting of GM crops until the government is satisfied that there will be no unacceptable effects on the environment.

SCIMAC represents the entire farm supply chain, from initial seed stock to harvested crop.

The members are:

• British Society of Plant Breeders
• British Agrochemicals Association
• National Farmers Union
• UK Agricultural Supply Trade Association
• British Sugar Beet Seed Producers Association

SCIMAC is providing the seed and organising locations for the farm scale evaluations.

2.The farm scale evaluations are a 3 year programme which will provide information about what effects, if any, GM crops might have on our wildlife. Last year researchers devised the methodology for the programme, which will begin this spring. The area of the GM crop in each field will not exceed 10 hectares (25 acres). The crops have already have been tested in the laboratory and on small scale sites for several years.

3. All GM foods are rigorously assessed for safety by the best independent scientific experts in the UK, the rest of Europe, the USA and the rest of the world. A GM food will not be approved for sale or consumption in this country until it has undergone this essential and comprehensive safety assessment process.

The safety assessment is carried out in the accordance with the requirements of the Novel Foods Regulation of May 1997 that established an EU-wide pre-market approval system for all novel foods. A novel food is one that has not been eaten by EU consumers to any wide extent in the past and includes foods containing, or produced from, GM organisms. In the UK, this safety assessment is carried out by the Advisory Committee for Novel Foods and Processes.

4. ACRE (Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment) considers the environmental and initial human safety aspects of the use of live genetically modified organisms outside the laboratory. This includes advising the Government on whether to accept an application from companies who want to grow trial plots of GM crops outside. Their advice is based on an in-depth study of the safety of the proposed plant and an assessment of any risks involved: for example the possibility of cross-pollination; any means by which GMOs could transfer into the wider environment; and the possibility of a modified plant becoming a weed. ACRE sets out strict conditions for the management of each crop, these include the separation distances required between GM and non-GM plants. Ministers must seek ACRE's advice before granting permission to market a live GMO.