European regulations which have been blamed for hampering the development of GM foods and crops are to be scrutinised by parliament.
The science and technology committee revealed its probe today.
The investigation comes just weeks after UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson branded Europe’s GM approvals process as politically motivated rather than science-based.
He warned at last month’s Oxford Farming Conference that Europe risked losing out on investment and scientific advances if current attitudes continue to dominate.
He said at the time: “The longer that Europe continues to close its doors to GM, the greater the risk that the rest of the world will bypass us altogether. Europe risks becoming the museum of world farming as innovative companies make decisions to invest and develop new technologies in other markets.”
Mr Paterson sees biotech as offering some of the biggest and most exciting opportunities for agriculture. But his views are at odds with the Scottish Government which is fundamentally opposed to GM.
There remains huge opposition to GM across Europe. Crop trials in the UK have been repeatedly targeted by protesters.
The committee said Defra viewed GM as one of several technologies needed to foster a vibrant farming sector.
But the precautionary principle adopted by the EU was seen as holding back GM development.
Committee chairman Andrew Miller said: “GM technology potentially offers an array of benefits, but concerns are being expressed that it is being held back by misuse of the precautionary principle.
“In this inquiry we will be looking at whether such restrictions are hampering UK scientific competitiveness and whether they are still appropriate in light of the available evidence on the safety of GM.”
The committee has made a call for evidence on whether EU and UK regulations on GM crops are fit for purpose, affected the UK’s international competitiveness and if they will hamper Britain’s ability to deliver the UK Government’s new agricultural technologies strategy.
The committee is seeking examples of where the EU’s precautionary principle approach has not been applied appropriately.