Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Another suggestion — this is reflected in the Adjournment motion — is that there will be inevitable and widespread contamination arising from the import of GT73 for animal feed. My understanding is that oilseed rape imported into this country is processed prior to its importation by crushing and its oil extracted. This minimises the possibility of live seed entering the environment.

The Deputy now seeks the invocation of the safeguard clause under Article 23 of Directive 2001/18/EC to prevent the marketing of the product in Ireland. I clarify for the House that there are detailed specified conditions under which this safeguard clause may be invoked. These conditions include the emergence of new or additional information made available since the date of the consent and affecting the environmental risk assessment, or the reassessment of existing information on the basis of new or additional scientific knowledge which provide detailed grounds for considering that the product constitutes a risk to human health or the environment. Such conditions have not been fulfilled with the product in question, especially since the date of consent was 31 August 2005. In these circumstances, it would not be appropriate to seek to invoke the safeguard clause under Directive 2001/18/EC in respect of the importation of GT73 oilseed rape.

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