My Lords, this amendment asks the House to decline to approve this statutory instrument—for total clarity, what is generally known as a fatal amendment. I thank the Minister for his very clear introduction to some of the scientific aspects of the SI and for clearly setting out the differences between gene editing and older forms of GMO technology. I thank all noble Lords who have joined us at this late hour. As the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, commented earlier, we so often do very important things very late at night. I am sorry about that, but that is not my choice—nor indeed that of most Members of your Lordships’ House, I think.
The Green Party’s position against genetically modified crops and animals is clear, but I will not make any arguments about that tonight. The argument I am making is that this statutory instrument is scientifically muddle-headed, unclear and most likely to create a legal tangle. The fact is, though, that noble Lords do not have to listen to me on that; they can listen to your Lordships’ Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. We have to give great thanks for the tremendous work it does slogging through so much material. Its concerns about this statutory instrument shine through very clearly from the length and detail of its report. In the earlier debate, the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, I think put scare quotes around the term “technically flawed” and suggested that that was a particularly grave insult in your Lordships’ House. I am afraid that I think this statutory instrument is technically flawed.
The basis of the statutory instrument is that plants that could have been produced naturally or by traditional breeding methods could be planted out in field trials without the current requirement to produce a risk assessment or to seek government approval for non-marketing purposes, as the Minister said. But there is as yet no guidance as to what scientific or regulatory criteria will be used to determine what fits the definition of “could be naturally occurring” or “by traditional methods”, which produces what is referred to as a “qualifying higher plant”.
The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s language is typically measured and calm, as noble Lords would expect, but the committee “regret”—a very strong word in its terminology—the fact that there is no guidance to explain what this means. I thank the Minister for arranging a meeting with him, his officials, experts and a number of NGOs with which I have been working on this, during which it was asked when the guidance would be produced. The answer was “in a few months’ time”. We are being asked to vote on something when we have no idea what it actually means. I do not know whether the Minister can provide me with any updates on that.
It is very clear from the consultation responses that this term is not recognised in any existing markets or certified sectors such as organic. It is interesting that the Minister talked about how the US and other places are loosening regulation of gene editing, but they are doing so by changing their regulation of the method; they are not focused on the outcomes. No other place is working in the way we are by referring to traditional breeding or natural methods.
In response to the consultation, the Wildlife and Countryside Link said that there is “no conclusive evidence” that organisms created by gene editing
“could be achieved through traditional breeding.”
The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation found that there was no basis for Defra’s claims, bluntly noting:
“The entire purpose of expanding the use of gene editing … is to create animals that do not occur naturally”—
or, in this case, plants. The Organic Research Centre said that Defra’s premise is
“unproven in theory and should not be the basis for changing regulations or removing protections.”
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Noble Lords might say that those conclusions are drawn from one side of the argument, but I point them to the Institute of Food Science & Technology, which called the Government’s approach “overly simplistic”. The Microbiology Society said it was “purely philosophical”. The Roslin Institute found it “exceptionally challenging”. The British Veterinary Association referred to it as “fundamentally flawed” and to the way the consultation was done as “leading, misleading” and “likely driven by industry”. The Universities Federation of Animal Welfare suggests
“the use of traditional breeding methods as a benchmark for what is and what is not acceptable is neither useful, nor scientifically logical.”
Finally, the FSA’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes said that a yes/no answer on this question was just not realistic:
“it is first necessary to have clarity on what constitutes ‘traditional breeding’”.
The key issue here is the problem of lack of definition. We come back to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which regrets that the Government have said that they intend this SI to be the first step in a process, with broader changes to GMO regulations, but provide no details of the context in which this instrument can be considered. The committee noted that, were this to be primary legislation, there would be no doubt that your Lordships’ House would be trying to introduce definitions into a Bill, as we cannot in an SI. The committee concludes that, with broader legislation, that would be the appropriate approach.
We find ourselves in a remarkably similar situation to that with the economic crime Bill, which we have just been debating. There, we are rushing through one thing with the promise of a second stage later, except that with the economic crime Bill, we all know why we are rushing through that stage; there is good reason for it and people have agreed to it. We have no explanation of why we need this rush here.
I just briefly mention broader concerns about the guidance, which is to be produced by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, a government advisory body. All the members of that committee have professional interests in biotechnology, and only one has expertise in ecology. None appears to have expertise in environmental toxicology.
There are many other concerns I could raise, but I shall come to a final point, which was raised by the Minister: these are regulations for England and, as Defra
told the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, both the Welsh and Scottish Governments have made it very clear that they do not wish to pursue equivalent action in Scotland and Wales. This raises an issue, because seeds are not subject to border control. In his introduction, the Minister, as did the government press release, explicitly mentioned sugar beet, which is, of course, wind pollinated and has the potential to spread over many kilometres and therefore crossbreed with wild or cultivated relatives. It is interesting that this crop is focused on so often, given its destructive environmental and public health outcomes.
I am aware that we do not very often pass fatal amendments, but this is a crucial issue. Yet again, as we have seen in other cases, we are encountering an ideology of cutting red tape. As we have seen in so many instances, such as the terribly tragic case of Grenfell, red tape is the rules that help keep us and our environment safe. As the Minister also said in his introduction, the Government are looking for purposes for Brexit and sees this as a possible one.
It is important that we have clarity on everyone’s position on this SI. We are not voting—and I intend to call a vote—on GMOs; we are voting on whether this SI is an appropriate instrument. I beg to move.