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Assessment and Inspection of field release sites
Site Assessments
Site assessment reports can be found on SEERAD’s web site on Genetic Modification.
Inspection of field release sites
Research and development trials (Part B consents) are inspected to ensure compliance with the specific conditions of the consent. Visits to these trial sites involve site inspections and checks of the grower’s records of managing the site. They can be conducted at different times during the growing season so that a range of conditions can be assessed.
To date, as no commercial GM crops (those with a part C release consent) have been grown in Scotland, all inspections have been conducted on GM plants released under part B consents.
Field Releases
In Scotland GM crops have been released for three different purposes: 1. company or agricultural institute research and development trials, 2. variety and seed testing trials for National or Recommended Lists, and 3. as part of the Farmscale Evaluation programme. The GM crop species that have been released in Scotland since 2000 are oilseed rape and potato. The table below details the numbers of active release sites in Scotland since 2000.
Numbers of active GM crop release sites since the 1999–2000 growing season
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Growing season of Active release |
Number of Active Sites |
|
1999–2000 |
5 |
|
2000–2001 |
13 |
|
2001–2002 |
12 |
|
2002–2003 |
5 |
Release site inspection reports
are published on the Scottish Executive GM web site.
Post-Release Monitoring
After the harvest of a GM crop (termination of the trial), Inspectors verify that the consent holder monitors the site regularly, conducts effective control of "volunteer" plants and is growing appropriate follow-on crops, before the site is returned to a normal agricultural rotation.
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