Whether in the future it will be under any legal obligation to allow the full commercial release of genetically modified food or crops.

No GM crops or food will be grown or marketed commercially in Scotland until they have passed one of the most rigorous regulatory systems in the world. The Scottish Executive have powers to prohibit release or marketing of the GM crop or food where there is supporting scientific evidence of harm to public health or the environment. European legislation provides that important safeguard.Refusal to grant consent for the commercial release or marketing of genetically modified crops or food would be illegal under governing European and domestic law unless such refusal was, as stated above, based on sound scientific evidence. However, under the terms of an agreement reached with the biotechnology industry, no commercial growing of GM crops will take place until the programme of farm scale evaluations is completed and fully assessed. The earliest that could happen is 2003.