8th March 2010No Ban on Field Trials of GM Crops,
says Environment Minister
says Environment Minister
The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GAEC) has allowed field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops, including brinjal, even as the government banned commercialisation of Bt brinjal.
The GEAC has allowed field trials of cotton, rice, okra, brinjal, potato, groundnut, tomato, corn, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard and sorghum as well for generation of biosafety data, minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
GEAC is the apex body notified under the "Rules for Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Micro Organisms/ Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells 1989" of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The government, he said, imposed a moratorium on commercialisation of Bt brinjal following apprehensions raised by NGOs and some sections of the scientific and farming communities on the safety of Bt brinjal.
He said the government would take maximum precautions as Bt brinjal is the first GM food crop to be introduced in the country.
He said commercial cultivation of the genetically modified brinjal would be allowed only after independent scientific studies establish the safety of the product from the point of view of its long-term impact on human health and environment, including the rich genetic wealth existing in brinjal in the country.
The GEAC will address the concerns for resolving all scientific issues relating to Bt brinjal, he said.
He said while biotechnology was an important option for higher agricultural productivity and for ensuring food security, the government has to ensure that biotechnology had no adverse effects on human and animal health, and bio-diversity.
He said the environment ministry has been regularly undertaking capacity building activities for enhancing biosafety awareness and regulatory compliance, since 2002.
While the biotech regulator undertakes the work in collaboration with the R & D institutions, agricultural universities across the country have also been trained in the use of new guidelines for confined field trials, safe operation practices, formats for monitoring and recording of data, etc.
The training was funded jointly by the department of biotechnology (DBT) and the minister of environment and forests, he added.
Further, he said, his ministry and the department of biotechnology along with the ministry of agriculture, the an Council of Medical Research and Biotech Consortium India Limited has organised 79 awareness workshops on GM crops with a focus on post-release monitoring in all major cotton growing states during 2006-07 to 2008-09.
He said the ministry has completed capacity building for biosafety under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Phase I project with GEF-World Bank assistance of $1 million and is developing the GEF phase-II capacity building project on biosafety.
Phase II of capacity build-up for biosafety projects would include: risk assessment and management; handling, packaging and transportation of living modified organisms (LMOs); institutional strengthening for LMO detection; socio economic assessment; public awareness; and training of trainers.
Article courtesy of domain-b
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