Key Facts

• Amendment 21 seeks to change wording from 'may' to 'must'.
• Amendment 22 also aims to change wording from 'may' to 'must'.
• The Bill's clause allows the Government to optionally regulate precision bred food and feed.
• Professor Robin May testified about the importance of safety checks for precision breeding products.
• Public polling indicates a desire for regulatory safeguards.
• Subsection (2) lists details of a possible regulatory framework without mandatory commitment.
• Subsection (6) only makes it optional for the FSA to conduct a thorough assessment.
• Zeichner is concerned about the "may" vs. "must" issue in clause 27.
• The amendment would require mandatory rather than discretionary measures for food and feed marketing authorisations.
• He tests the view of the Committee on amendment 21, which was negatived.
• Clause 27 confers a delegated power on the Government to require the Food Standards Agency to establish a public register.
• The Bill applies only to England but could impact Wales and Scotland due to mutual recognition principles.
• Professor May of the FSA supports establishing a public awareness register for precision bred products.
• Zeichner is less convinced by Victoria Prentis' reassurances about food safety regulation.
• He expresses concern over importing precision bred crops from countries with different standards than the UK.
• Amendment 23 will be pressed to a Division.
• Clause 42 concerns powers to make consequential provisions that may modify legislation.
• Amendment 26 aims to ensure regulations are made in accordance with environmental principles set out in section 17(5) of the Environment Act 2021 and Article 391 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
• Henry VIII clauses shift power away from Parliament towards the Executive and require strong justification.
• Amendments relate to clause 43 of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill.
• The Environment Act 2021 requires Ministers to have due regard to environmental principles in policy-making.
• Article 391 of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement sets out non-regression rules for environmental protection.
• The EU takes approximately 55% of all crop-related food exports from the UK.
• There is a possibility that £8.56 billion worth of crop-related exports to the EU could decrease due to a disagreement.
• This represents only 2.5% of the annual total value of exported goods and 5.4% of the annual value of exported goods to the EU.
• Amendment 26 concerns trade and cooperation agreement issues.
• Amendment 27 seeks to ensure that no regulations may be made under this Act unless a policy statement on environmental principles has been laid before Parliament.
• The vote on amendment 27 results in Ayes 3, Noes 8.
• Amendment 3 would prevent regulations being made on precision bred animals until a welfare advisory body is satisfied regarding animal health and welfare.
• The Welsh and Scottish Governments were consulted at a late stage about the regulation of genetically edited organisms.
• Clause 47 was mistakenly referenced during the initial discussion.
• The regulation of genetically modified organisms is devolved matter in Scotland.
• The Scottish Government opposes UK Government's moves on this issue.
• New clause 9 would amend the United Kingdom Internal Market Act to uphold Scottish Parliament’s authority over precision bred organisms marketing.
• Amendment 37 would prevent the Bill from coming into force until a common framework agreement is agreed upon between UK, Scotland and Wales Governments.
• The new clause mandates labelling regulations for precision bred organisms and products derived from them.
• Consultation must include representatives of consumers, food producers, suppliers, retailers, growers and farmers, the organic sector, and other affected persons.
• The Secretary of State must seek advice from the Food Standards Agency on required information for labelling.
• Labour believes labelling is an important part of the new regulatory framework.
• The Government opposes labelling due to potential business costs, but have not calculated these costs.
• Nuffield Council on Bioethics notes that not labelling runs contrary to consumer preferences.
• The debate concerns labelling requirements for precision bred organisms.
• An enactment IA—impact assessment—is mentioned as part of the Bill's passage through Parliament.
• New clause 2 would delay the release of precision bred animals for at least 12 months and 6 months after reports on animal welfare impact.
• The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 enshrines animal sentience in law and establishes an Animal Sentience Committee.
• Applications for the committee have closed, with plans to establish it by the end of the year.
• Zeichner believes that delaying precision bred animals' release until after the committee's report is necessary to ensure proper animal welfare protections.
• The Authority must keep proper accounts and records.
• Annual statements of accounts must be prepared and sent to relevant authorities not later than five months after the end of an accounting year.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General must examine, certify, and report on every statement of accounts received.
• The Genetic Technology Authority is not considered a servant or agent of the Crown.
• The Secretary of State may pay sums to the Authority towards its expenses with Treasury consent.
• Members must be appointed by the Secretary of State, and certain individuals are disqualified from being chairman or deputy chairman due to their involvement in genetic technology creation, release, or marketing.
• The proposal is based on new clauses and a new schedule in the Bill.
• Stakeholders such as the Nuffield Centre on Bioethics, the Royal Society of Biology, and the British Veterinary Association support the establishment of an independent oversight body for gene-editing technology.
• Dr Madeleine Campbell of the BVA advocates for an independent oversight body to monitor animal welfare over time.
• Bill Angus raises concerns about potential dominance by large multinationals in intellectual property rights regarding genetic material.
• The Government's approach is seen as too deregulatory by Labour.
• ACRE (Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment) advises the Secretary of State on precision bred organisms.
• Zeichner suggests establishing a wider authority sooner for better regulatory framework.
• The new clause would ensure appropriate labelling and traceability of precision bred products.
• A survey showed that 84% of the public consider it important to label all GE products introduced for sale in the UK, with 63% considering it very important.
• Only 8% do not consider labelling important.