THE furore surrounding Alex Salmond and the “hard” versus “soft” independence factions are a major distraction from our long-term goal. Frustration at the lack of progress and the perceived injustice towards Alex underpins all of this. While hard independence is a nice romantic concept full of die-hard bravado, the reality is far from the case. Have any of the frustrated ever actually stopped to think how that can be achieved, what it would cost in the short term and how – following a doubtful success – we can instantaneously create the administrative functions of a working independent state, gaining international recognition and support at the same time?
GENE EDITING involves accentuating or suppressing genes withn an organism s own natural genetic sequence PERMISSION for gene editing in agriculture is back on the political agenda, following the launch of a Defra consultation on a potential change in UK law to allow the technology into the food chain. Under current European law, Gene Editing is lumped together with Genetic Modification, and as such is excluded from use in producing novel crop plants and livestock. Defra is touting the GE consultation as an early consequence of its post-Brexit independence from EU law, potentially giving UK farmers a tech edge over their continental counterparts.
Because of the Internal Market Bill, Scotland will have to allow the sale of genetically edited food if England decides to change its laws SCOTLAND may soon be “forced to accept the marketing, sale and free circulation” of genetically modified food as England looks to change its own laws in the area post-Brexit, the Scottish Government has warned. The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has today launched a public consultation on the use of gene editing on both livestock and arable crops. Gene editing (GE) is slightly different from genetic modification (GM). While the latter involves inserting new genes into a DNA strand, GE involves the cutting and removing of undesirable parts of genes.
Regulating pesticides in the UK after Brexit
Regulating pesticides in the UK after Brexit
From 1 January 2021, an independent pesticides regulatory regime is in operation in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
New decisions taken under the EU regime will not apply in Great Britain. This includes active substance and maximum residue level (MRL) decisions and any new EU plant protection product (PPP) legislation.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will remain the national regulator for the whole of the UK, on behalf of the UK government and the devolved administrations.
This guidance is for anyone working with PPPs. It is designed to help you understand how Brexit may affect PPP regulation and covers:
After intensive negotiations, the European Commission has reached an agreement with the United Kingdom on the terms of its future cooperation with the European Union. The agreement covers not just trade in goods and services, but also a broad range of other areas in the EU s interest,
such as investment, competition, State aid, tax transparency, air and road transport, energy and sustainability, fisheries, data protection, and social security coordination.
It provides for zero tariffs and zero quotas on all goods that comply with the appropriate rules of origin.
Both parties have committed to ensuring a robust level playing field by maintaining high levels of protection in areas such as environmental protection, the fight against climate change and carbon pricing, social and labour rights, tax transparency and State aid, with effective, domestic enforcement, a binding dispute settlement mechanism and the possibility for both parties to take remedial measures.