ET SPECIAL:
NEW DELHI: A technical committee appointed by the Supreme Court
(SC) has recommended an indefinite moratorium on open field trials of
genetically-modified (GM) crops till the deficiencies in the regulatory
and safety systems are effectively addressed. The recommendations, if
accepted by the court, would have a serious impact on the
commercialisation of GM crops.
In its final report, which was submitted to the court last week, the
six-member committee reiterated the recommendations made in its interim
report last October.
"Based on the examination of the safety dossiers, the Technical Expert Committee has found in unambiguous terms that at present, the regulatory system has major gaps and these will require rethinking, investment and relearning to fix. These need to be addressed before issues related to tests can be meaningfully considered. Till such time, it would not be advisable to conduct more field trials. A deeper understanding of the process of risk assessment is needed within the regulatory system for it to meet the needs of a proper bio-safety evaluation," the final report states.
On Bt food crops intended for commercialisation, the committee has reiterated that there should be a moratorium on field trials until there is a definitive number of studies on their long-term study. The 10-year moratorium suggested in the interim report has been dropped. Of the 91 applications for field trial before the GEAC, 44 are GM food crops.
The committee felt that the safety of Bt food crops particularly on the issue chronic toxicity has not been established. "This needs to be done before it can be considered safe," it said. The report stressed that the largest deployment of transgenics world-wide is in soybean, corn, cotton, and canola, all of which are used primarily for oil or feed. "Nowhere are Bt-transgenics being widely consumed in large amounts for any major food crop that is directly used for human consumption. The TEC could not find any compelling reason for India to be the first to do so," the committee's final report states.
The report makes the case that the quality of information in several of the applications is far below what is required for rigorous evaluation by a regulatory body and is unlikely to meet international regulatory guidelines. The committee has suggested setting up a secretariat comprising dedicated scientists with area and bio-safety expertise. It has suggested collaborating with the Norwegian government and the GM regulatory body as it "is one of the few that are attuned to considering socio-economic issues that would be important in the Indian context." It recommends that the new bio-technology regulatory be housed in the environment and health ministry, identification of specific sites for conducting of field tests and mandatory stakeholder participation as part of risk-management strategy. The Technical Expert Committee suggested that trials should be only allowed on land owned by GM crop applicant and not on leased land.
"Based on the examination of the safety dossiers, the Technical Expert Committee has found in unambiguous terms that at present, the regulatory system has major gaps and these will require rethinking, investment and relearning to fix. These need to be addressed before issues related to tests can be meaningfully considered. Till such time, it would not be advisable to conduct more field trials. A deeper understanding of the process of risk assessment is needed within the regulatory system for it to meet the needs of a proper bio-safety evaluation," the final report states.
On Bt food crops intended for commercialisation, the committee has reiterated that there should be a moratorium on field trials until there is a definitive number of studies on their long-term study. The 10-year moratorium suggested in the interim report has been dropped. Of the 91 applications for field trial before the GEAC, 44 are GM food crops.
The committee felt that the safety of Bt food crops particularly on the issue chronic toxicity has not been established. "This needs to be done before it can be considered safe," it said. The report stressed that the largest deployment of transgenics world-wide is in soybean, corn, cotton, and canola, all of which are used primarily for oil or feed. "Nowhere are Bt-transgenics being widely consumed in large amounts for any major food crop that is directly used for human consumption. The TEC could not find any compelling reason for India to be the first to do so," the committee's final report states.
The report makes the case that the quality of information in several of the applications is far below what is required for rigorous evaluation by a regulatory body and is unlikely to meet international regulatory guidelines. The committee has suggested setting up a secretariat comprising dedicated scientists with area and bio-safety expertise. It has suggested collaborating with the Norwegian government and the GM regulatory body as it "is one of the few that are attuned to considering socio-economic issues that would be important in the Indian context." It recommends that the new bio-technology regulatory be housed in the environment and health ministry, identification of specific sites for conducting of field tests and mandatory stakeholder participation as part of risk-management strategy. The Technical Expert Committee suggested that trials should be only allowed on land owned by GM crop applicant and not on leased land.
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