NIKHIL M GHANEKAR, The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee's move comes in the wake of several state governments refusing to allow field trials of GM crops even after they were cleared by the union environment ministry.
In a controversial move that is likely to face opposition from state governments, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of union environment ministry has decided that it will give state governments only 90 days to grant their consent for confined field trials of genetically modified crops, failing which the ministry will consider it approved.
The GEAC is the apex body mandated with regulating the use of genetically modified organisms, including GM food crops. GEAC had decided back in 2011 that all applicants would be required to obtain an NOC from state governments in the first instance before issuance of approve letter for conduct of field trials.