My Lords, I have four amendments in this group, and I have added my name to the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle.
When I first read the Bill, I made a note of the number of affirmative and negative procedures listed; there were 15 affirmative and 13 negative. The first time the Agriculture Bill came forward, it was berated because of the number of negative procedures and Henry VIII powers it contained. As we all know, the original Bill was paused and then amended, before being resubmitted for debate. The second iteration had far fewer negative procedures and received a far warmer welcome as a result.
I have chosen carefully those negative instruments that I believe ought to be affirmative. The first is Amendment 26 to Clause 4, which is headed “Release of precision bred organism: notification requirements”. Although it is of course important that the Secretary of State decides on this, it is also vital that Parliament debates and understands the implications of what this considerable step forward—the release of gene-edited plants and crops—will be. This will be especially important if and when the science has progressed to such an extent that animals are included because, as the Bill stands, there is no mechanism for Parliament to be involved when this step does occur. As the noble Lords, Lord Winston and Lord Krebs, have demonstrated this afternoon, this is a fiendishly technical Bill that deserves close scrutiny.
Next is Amendment 33 to Clause 11, which would give the Secretary of State the ability to include animals in the authorisation process. On Monday, we debated the efficacy of including animals in the Bill. Although there were arguments on both sides for this to happen, it was clear from the Minister’s response that the Government are determined for this to happen. It is therefore vital that, when this happens and the Secretary of State is ready to sign his or her authorisation, Parliament should have the ability to debate this addition in the Chamber or, more likely, in Grand Committee.
Then there is Amendment 46 to Clause 18, on the precision breeding register. The noble Lord, Lord Rooker, has already detailed his objections to subsection (1)
being included in the Bill. The clause gives extraordinary power to the Secretary of State. Although the Secretary of State must make the register accessible electronically, the public will have no say over how any of the subsections in the clause are implemented. As has already been stated, both on Monday and this afternoon, we are keen not to have a repeat of the previous GM abortive attempts to get legislation passed. This previous failure could be driving the Bill’s use of negative procedures for key elements. This is a mistake. You do not take the public or Parliament with you if you shut them out from the discussion and debate around decision-making. Moving to the affirmative procedure would ensure that Parliament had a say on the vital issue of the precision breeding register.
My last amendment in this group is Amendment 52 to Clause 22, on the advisory bodies. Again, the objection to this clause being implemented under the negative procedure by the Secretary of State is one of public confidence. The welfare advisory body will be the gatekeepers to whom the public will look for reassurance that all is well with the progress of precision-engineered crops and, later, animals. To have this body appointed by the Secretary of State and paid for by the taxpayer without any parliamentary scrutiny is definitely not going to foster confidence in Parliament, certainly not among the public.
Other noble Lords have referred to ACRE and the level of expertise of the people sitting on the welfare advisory body’s board. The interests of those appointed should be made available to the public and interested NGOs. Independence is vital.
I have added my name to the notice by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, about whether Clause 42 should stand part of the Bill. Again, this clause gives unlimited power to the Secretary of State to modify the Act in any way that he or she chooses without any scrutiny by Parliament. I support her on this amendment.
I feel passionately about the role of the negative procedure. It does have its place, but not in the amendments I have listed. I trust that the Minister will have encouraging words. I beg to move.