Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023

Release and marketing: general provisions

22 Advisory bodies

(1) References in this Act to the advisory committee are to the committee appointed by the Secretary of State under section 124(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

(2) The advisory committee must, at the request of the Secretary of State, provide advice on any matter relevant to the Secretary of State’s functions under sections 6 to 9 (precision bred confirmation).

(3) References in this Act to the welfare advisory body are to such committee or other body as may be designated by regulations.

(4) A body designated by regulations under subsection (3) may be—

(a) a committee appointed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Part, or

(b) a body—

(i) established by or under any other Act, or

(ii) which otherwise exercises functions of a public nature.

(5) The welfare advisory body must, at the request of the Secretary of State, provide advice on any matter relevant to the Secretary of State’s functions under sections 11 to 15 (precision bred animal marketing authorisation).

(6) Subsections (7) and (8) apply to any committee appointed by the Secretary of State under subsection (4)(a).

(7) Members of the committee are to hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of their appointment.

(8) The Secretary of State may pay to members of the committee such remuneration and allowances as the Secretary of State may determine.

(9) Regulations under subsection (3) are subject to the affirmative procedure.

23 Advisory bodies: time limits etc

(1) Regulations may—

(a) make provision for a reporting period relating to an organism not to run while the information requested by any information notice given in relation to the organism has not been provided;

(b) make provision for a relevant application relating to an organism to be treated as withdrawn if the information requested by any information notice given in relation to the organism is not provided within a prescribed period.

(2) In this section—

• “information notice” means an information notice under section 7 (report by advisory committee) or 12 (report by welfare advisory body);

• “relevant application” means a marketing notice or an application for a precision bred animal marketing authorisation;

• “reporting period” means—

  (a)

  a 90 day period mentioned in section 7(2), or

  (b)

  a reporting period within the meaning of section 12.

(3) For the purposes of this section—

(a) an information notice is given in relation to an organism if it is given in connection with a relevant application relating to the organism, and

(b) a reporting period relates to an organism if it applies for the purposes of a relevant application relating to the organism.

(4) Regulations under subsection (1) are subject to the negative procedure.

24 Meaning of “qualifying progeny”

In this Act “qualifying progeny”, in relation to a marketable precision bred organism, means any progeny of the organism whose genome does not contain any feature resulting from the application of modern biotechnology, apart from features inherited from that or any other marketable precision bred organism.

25 Precision bred animal marketing authorisation: adverse effects

(1) Regulations may prescribe circumstances in which the health or welfare of a relevant animal or its qualifying progeny is, or is not, to be regarded for the purposes of—

(a) section 11(3), or

(b) section 15(1)(b),

as being adversely affected by any precision bred trait.

(2) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.