Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 493: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the progress made on the programme for Government proposal to seek to negotiate the establishment of an all-Ireland genetically modified free zone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28547/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Several Government Departments have responsibility for aspects of GM Policy and these are the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government which has responsibility for the deliberate release of GM's into the environment including for crop cultivation; the Department of Health and Children which has responsibility for GM food safety and consumer protection;the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment has responsibility for developments in the biotechnology industry and research and development; and the Department, Agriculture Fisheries and Food which has responsibility for the regulation of GM seeds, including the coexistence of GM crops to ensure compliance with GM labelling regulations, and matters relating to GM feed.

Following the publication of the commitment in the programme for Government to seek to negotiate the establishment of an all Ireland GM free zone a process of elaborating and teasing out the implications of the commitment began among the relevant Departments. While there is ongoing consideration on how best to advance this commitment, the understanding is that it relates to a process of discouraging the cultivation of GM crops in Ireland rather than discouraging the importation or consumption of authorised GM food or feed.