Developments in biotechnology and their implications for agriculture and the environment have included some of the most contentious areas of science-related public debate and media attention in recent years, particularly in relation to genetically modified food and crops
After a review of the framework for overseeing developments in biotechnology in 1999, Government established a new strategic Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission to consider social and ethical issues as well as the science.
In 2002 Government announced that it would promote a national dialogue on GM issues, with three strands: a Science Review, a Public Debate and an Economic Study. The various reports from these strands of activity fed in to Government policy making and in March 2004 the Defra Secretary of State made a statement to Parliament setting out the Government's overall policy on GM crops. Defra is responsible for the control of the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms and for national, EU and international policy on their environmental safety.
