All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture (APPGSTA) was established in March 2008 to provide a forum for Parliamentarians and other interested parties to debate and highlight the value of science and technology in agriculture.

Controversies

2012 - Genewatch warns on conflicts of interest

GeneWatch UK warned in January 2012 that the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture was being used by Monsanto and other GM companies to lobby on behalf of their business interests. Funders of the group include the industry body the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC), which represents the major GM crop companies (BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, Pioneer (DuPont), Monsanto and Syngenta).

GeneWatch noted revelations in the Times newspaper that many All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG)s are being funded by commercial interests, and a speech by environment secretary Owen Paterson in favour of commercial growing of GM crops in Britain.

George Freeman, MP, who chairs the parliamentary group, was appointed as 'government life science adviser' by prime minister David Cameron and the science minister David Willetts in July 2011. Genewatch said Freeman chaired a meeting between the GM industry and ministers on 26 June 2012 to discuss a plan prepared by the ABC to promote GM crops in Britain.

"It is clear that ministers have done a dodgy deal with the GM industry to promote GM crops in Britain and that lobbying in parliament is not led by the interests of constituents" said GeneWatch UK director, Dr Helen Wallace. "This is a bad deal for consumers and for farmers who will have to pay the extra costs of segregation to maintain more valuable non-GM supplies. In the USA, resistant superweeds and superpests are on the increase as a result of growing GM crops. Farmers are locked in to paying ever higher prices for patented GM seeds as companies withhold non-GM varieties."

Officers

November 2015 - April 2016

• Mark Spencer - Conservative Party - Chair
• Huw Irranca-Davies - Labour - Vice-chair
• Earl John Palmer of Selborne - Conservative Party - Vice-chair
• Lord Christopher Haskins - Conservative Party - Vice-chair
• Earl James Lindesay-Bethune - Conservative Party - Vice-chair

As of January 2013

• George Freeman - Conservative Party - Chair
• Earl of Selborne - Conservative Party - Vice-chair
• Lord Christopher Haskins - Conservative Party - Vice-chair

Members

Peter Aldous | Guto Bebb | Henry Bellingham | Richard Benyon | Tom Blenkinsop | Andrew Bridgen | Alistair Burt | Jo Churchill | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | Chris Davies | Philip Dunne | Graham Evans | Jim Fitzpatrick | Nusrat Ghani | John Glen | James Gray | Ben Gummer | Huw Irranca-Davies | Daniel Kawczynski | Sarah Newton | Neil Parish | Claire Perry | Daniel Poulter | Rebecca Pow | Victoria Prentis | Angela Smith | Nicholas Soames | Mark Spencer | Julian Sturdy | Rishi Sunak | Bill Wiggin | Lord Tim Boswell | Baroness Hazel Byford | Lord Ewan Cameron | Lord Tony Christopher | Lord Donald Curry | Baroness Brenda Dean | Lord John Gummer | Earl Merlin Hay of Erroll | Lord John Suenson-Taylor | Lord Richard Fletcher-Vane | Lord John MacGregor | Duke James Graham | Baron Henry Plumb | Baroness Margaret Sharp | Baroness Gillian Shephard | Lord Ernest Soulsby | Lord Dick Taverne | Lord John Taylor | Lord Richard Vincent | Lord William Wade | Lord Robert Walpole | Lord David Verney

Secretariat

Front Foot Communications Ltd acts as the group's secretariat, helping with administrative duties and event or meeting coordination.

Registered benefits 2015

Front Foot Communications LTD is paid by the following organisations to provide the secretariat to the APPGSTA:

National Farmers Union | National Institute of Agricultural Botany | FERA | British Society of Plant Breeders | British Growers Association | Agricultural Biotechnology Council | Crop Protection Association | Agricultural Industries Confederation.

Collectively, as of February 2016, they have paid (in bands of £1,500) £15,001-£16,500 in registered benefits to Front Foot for services.

Contact

Daniel Pearsall is the public enquiry point.

Address: The Old Dairy, Fellnaw Farm, Ringford, Castle Douglas DG7 2AP

Tel: 01557 820504

Email: daniel.pearsall@frontfoot.uk.com

Funding

According to the Group's website, the APPGSTA's activities are supported by a range of food, farming and research organisations including: Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC), Agricultural Biotechnology Council (abc), Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB), Crop Protection Association (CPA), Maltsters Association of Great Britain (MAGB), National Association of British & Irish Millers (nabim), National Farmers Union (NFU) and National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB).