Member

Where this is relevant to our debate today is that Wales and Scotland had an opportunity to join in this legislation and chose not to do so. I think that was principally because they wanted to align with European Union legislation rather than with the English legislation. This regulation applies only to England. As it happens, today the Polish presidency has secured agreement in the Council of Ministers and entered a trilogue. So, we are making considerable progress in the European Union. As far as I can see, that answers the central question from the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett: how can we achieve something which is comparable across the United Kingdom? The answer is that there is no reason why within a reasonable period we will not have both legislation for precision-bred organisms and precision-bred plants in this country, and provision for NGTs, which are not under the GMO regulations, in the European Union—and soon.