General Public

The GM Inspectorate investigates incidents that arise by through their routine duties or through enquiries that have been brought to the attention the Scottish Government’s CAP Reform and Crop Policy Branch.

Recent incidents have involved the trialling of conventional varieties which contained adventitious GM seed that were not authorised for cultivation.

Investigations are reported to the Scottish Government and are summarised in the GM Inspectorate’s Annual Reports or Reviews.

Guidance for marketing seed of a high risk category of containing adventitious GM material that has been imported directly into the Scotland from out with the UK

Seed importers that have made a seed declaration on the Scottish Government GM Inspectorate’s Seed Monitoring form are advised to:

Adventitious GM presence in Conventional Seed

In seed producing areas where GM crops co-exist with seed crops of conventionally bred varieties, there is a risk that seed from conventionally bred seed may inadvertently contain GM seed (AGMP) through cross-pollination or physical mixing of seed during processing. The legislative EU framework requires the labelling of conventional seed lots that contain any detectable traces of authorised GM seeds. If unauthorised GM seed is found in conventional crop seed, there is zero tolerance and the affected seedlot cannot be marketed.