Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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309. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has undertaken an impact assessment on the possible effects of the European Commission’s proposal (details supplied) on the food and feed chain; the Government’s position on the proposal which is scheduled to be discussed at Council meetings over the coming month; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29907/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The European Commission has put forward a proposal for a EU Regulation to permit Member States to ban the use of genetically modified food and feed on their territory. The proposal states that such prohibitions or restrictions must be reasoned and based on compelling grounds and must not conflict with a risk assessment prepared by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The matter was discussed at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on 13 July and strong opposition to the proposal as it currently stands was shown by almost all Member States.

At the Council meeting, I, along with other colleagues, called upon the EU Commission to carry out an impact assessment of the proposal as a basis for further discussions. In addition I raised concerns on compatibility with WTO rules and highlighted that implementation of this proposal would have a disproportionate impact on those Member States that are most heavily dependent on imports of GM protein feed to supplement livestock diet, such as Ireland. I also expressed the view that the proposal should not undermine relations with third countries that currently export significant quantities of GM feed to the EU.

The concerns outlined by me at the Council meeting are shared by the Irish feed industry with whom my Department has been in consultation in relation to the EU Commission’s proposals.