Meeting of the Parliament 23 September 2015
I want the scientific evidence on the table to back up the ban that has been put in place by the cabinet secretary. We have no such evidence.
GM crops have the potential—I only use the word “potential”—to provide an exciting new future for agriculture, of which the principal purpose must surely always be to feed an ever-increasing world population. We will forget that—as I think the cabinet secretary has, in this instance—at our peril.
I will move on to a more positive note. I think that we all agree on the need to include the retail sector in our thinking and discussions on making the most of our home-grown products. The success of Scotland’s food and drink is fantastic, but until the fruits of that success are fed back down to the primary producer, it is only a partial success.
As some members know, I recently reviewed the voluntary code of practice between dairy farmers and milk processors. It became obvious early in the review that the retail sector is the missing link in the chain; for the code to be effective, the retail sector has to be part of it. We will back any moves, wherever they come from, to enhance that relationship. We also fully back moves to further empower the Groceries Code Adjudicator. Well-known supermarkets are selling New Zealand lamb under “Scottish lamb” signage. That is not on—until we reverse the thinking that encourages retailers to do that, the challenges will remain.
The motion rightly notes the hard work and dedication of the people who work in agriculture. They always have been hard working and dedicated and they always will be. Give them back the confidence that is declining and they will not let this country down.
I move amendment S4M-14327.1, to leave out from second “notes” to “repatriate the industry’s” and insert:
“regrets the Scottish Government’s decision to rule out the cultivation of GM crops without having taken any scientific advice or debate on the potential benefits of biotechnology; notes the critical importance to farmers’ cash-flow of CAP funding being delivered on time; urges the Scottish Government to ensure prompt CAP Pillar 1 payments in December 2015; recognises the UK Government’s commitment to discuss the allocation of its €36.1 million European support package with devolved administrations as a matter of urgency; welcomes the UK Government’s confirmation that it is committed to review the intra-UK CAP budget allocation in 2016-17; seeks an early resolution to ongoing negotiations over the reallocation of”.
15:11Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.