23 and 24 April : Agriculture and Environment
Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) meets in Edinburgh
The Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission
(AEBC) provides government with strategic advice on
biotechnology issues which impact on agriculture and the
environment, including issues of ethics and acceptability.
The Commission was launched in June last year and is
committed to holding regular public meetings throughout the
UK. Their meeting in Edinburgh on 23 and 24 April was the
first full meeting of the Commission to be held in
Scotland. Individual members of the Commission have
appeared previously before a Committee of the Scottish
Parliament and an AEBC sub-group took evidence at a recent
meeting in Inverness.
Susan Deacon, Minister for Health and Community Care,
was particularly pleased to have the opportunity to meet
informally with Commission members. She used the occasion
to acknowledge the role of the AEBC in providing
independent strategic advice to the Scottish Executive as
well as the UK Government and to ensure that agricultural
and environmental issues with a particular Scottish
dimension are fully taken into account as the work of the
Commission progresses. She congratulated the Commission on
its early progress and noted that the Transport &
Environment Committee of the Scottish Parliament shared her
belief that the AEBC was well equipped to take account of
Scottish circumstances in their advice to Ministers.
During the formal business meeting, Commission members
considered an early draft report into the strategic
decision-making process; using the farm scale evaluation
programme and gene flow as specific case studies. The
report will evaluate how decisions in these key areas have
been reached within the context of the existing regulatory
system and consider whether there are wider implications
for how we control and monitor the application of GM
technology within our environment. The Commission is aiming
to publish their finalised report later in the year.
The Commission also held a Public Meeting at the
National Museum for Scotland attended by around 50 members
of the public. This involved a lively discussion led by an
expert panel on how questions about the use of animals in
biotechnology can be addressed within the existing
regulatory and advisory system. In due course the
Commission will prepare a report for government and may
make recommendations on changes to current practice.
The minutes of the Edinburgh meeting will be published
shortly on the AEBC website (
www.aebc.gov.uk).