Kicker: Gene editing law to be brought forward
By Abi Kay
THE Governments failure to include a Food Bill in the Queens Speech this week has been described as deeply disappointing.
Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, said a response to the National Food Strategy was now long overdue and a Food Bill would represent the best vehicle for delivering its recommendations.
Farmers Guardian understands the Government intends to publish its Food Strategy White Paper in June, but it is only expected to be a short, high-level document.
We fear a half-hearted and disjointed response to the National Food Strategy represents a missed opportunity, said Mr Percival.
The Queens Speech, which sets out the Governments legislative programme for the coming Parliamentary session, did contain a promise to bring forward a Precision Breeding Bill to allow gene edited crops and livestock to be regulated in the same way as those which are conventionally bred.
The move was welcomed by CLA president Mark Tufnell, who said: Now more than ever, we need to focus on new technology which can deliver benefits for climate and the environment alongside crop and livestock production.
The potential benefits are high, and the risks are no different from conventional breeding.
But Rare Breeds Survival Trust chief executive Christopher Price described gene editing as a laboratory-based process which is worlds away from conventional breeding.
Most of the problems gene editing seeks to address are manmade, resulting from intensive farming systems, with animals being kept in artificially high densities, he said.
If the right breed is kept in the right place, at the right density, its health and welfare needs will be met, with minimal need for intervention.
Other pieces of legislation outlined in the speech included a Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which the Tenant Farmers Association suggested could provide an opportunity to lengthen terms for Farm Business Tenancy (FBT) agreements.
Chief executive George Dunn also said it might be possible to see if measures could be included in a proposed Renters Reform Bill to improve the security on FBTs.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill from the last parliamentary session was carried over. It includes plans to restrict livestock journey times and tackle livestock worrying.
