Environment ministry’s genetic engineering panel the says states be given a maximum of 90 days to respond to applications for conducting confined field trials

 

New Delhi: Notwithstanding the heated debate on genetically modified (GM) crops, the Union government is looking to dilute provisions that require applicants to seek no-objection certificates (NOCs) from states for conducting field trials.

 

The environment ministry’s genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC), the nodal regulator for GM crops, has recommended that states be given a maximum of 90 days to respond to applications for conducting confined field trials, after which their nod should be deemed as given.

Former vice chancellor of Delhi University and geneticist Deepak Kumar Pental, who spearheaded the effort to develop transgenic mustard called DMH-11 that contains three genes sourced from soil bacterium, confirmed to The Hindu that one of the DMH-11 genes, called the bar gene, made the plant resistant to a herbicide (or weed killer) brand-named Basta, a product sold by multinational company Bayer Cropscience.

 

If cleared by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, a regulator that reports to the Ministry of Environment and Forests — it will be the first time a herbicide tolerant crop would be cleared for commercial use in India.

Madabhushi Sridhar | THE HANS INDIA, Information regarding genetically modified (GM) mustard shall be shared with consumers. Kavita Kuruganti sought for the agenda and minutes of Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). CIC directed it to disclose. She approached the CIC against non-implementation of direction of disclosure, saying that the directions of CIC were not complied with, more than 50 days later. The regulators are just dilly-dallying.

 

Their website shows that they do not do this. Despite assurances in the CIC hearing and CIC Orders, their website clearly shows that the latest meeting agenda of June 20 was not put up nor were full minutes of other meetings. In the case of bio-safety data being sought, the resolution of the issue with the crop developer should have been over by now and all data should have been shared in the public domain.

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.

Inika Charles, The Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the Environment Ministry to release all data relating to the bio-safety of GM Mustard by an order in April following a RTI application filed by Ms. Kavitha Kuruganti (the ‘Appellant’). The application sought information regarding the field trials of GM Mustard, which the Ministry refused to disclose on grounds of confidentiality.

 

The Ministry is yet to comply with the order in question, but on Tuesday released a safety assessment report stating that GM Mustard technology was found to be safe for human and animal consumption, and didn’t pose any threats to biodiversity. The report, though comprehensive in its 133 pages is unlikely to satisfy activists who demand that the raw data be released. The report did however raise a cautionary note calling for more studies on whether GM Mustard would harm honey bees and honey production in mustard growing areas, as well as call for the monitoring of insects and other organisms near mustard fields. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has additionally stated that it will only take a final decision on the commercialisation after it receives comments from stakeholders and the general public by the 5th of October, 2016.

तहलका न्यूज ब्यूरो

 

लखनऊ. देश एवं प्रदेश के नागरिकों के स्वास्थ्य, किसानों के बीज स्वावलंबन एवं जैविक खेती की रक्षा हेतु संशोधित जीन वाली (जीएम) सरसों के किसी भी रूप में उत्तर प्रदेश में स्वीकृति न दिये जाने के सम्बन्ध में भारतीय किसान यूनियन ने यूपी के सीएम अखिलेश यादव को एक पत्र लिखा है.

 

भारतीय किसान यूनियन के राष्ट्रीय प्रवक्ता राकेश टिकैत ने अखिलेश यादव को लिखा है कि देश के सबसे बड़े राज्य के रूप में उत्तरप्रदेश एवं यहाँ की सरकार की देश के विकास की दशा और दिशा तय करने में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका रहती है. आप के नेतृत्व में किसान एवं जन हितैषी राज्य सरकार ने जीएम फसलों के खतरे को पहले ही भांप लिया है और राज्य में जीएम फसलों के क्षेत्र परीक्षण तक की अनुमति नहीं दी। अधिकांश अन्य राज्य सरकारों, जिन में सरसों बोने वाले मुख्य राज्य राजस्थान, मध्यप्रदेश एवं हरियाणा भी शामिल हैं, ने भी जीएम फसलों के खेत परीक्षण तक की अनुमति नहीं दी है। समाजवादी पार्टी पूर्व से ही इन फसलों के विरोध में रही है, आपके द्वारा भी पूर्व में इन फसलों को अनुमति न दिये जाने का आश्वासन किसान संगठनों को दिया जाता रहा है.

NIHAR GOKHALE, Supporters of Genetically Modified Mustard argue that using the high-tech seed will improve India's mustard seed production, and help India reduce its Rs 65,000 crore bill on importing edible oils.

 

However, looking deeper into this import bill and its history reveals that this argument doesn't really hold. In fact, the reference to imports brings to light how India's self-sufficiency in edible oils was eroded by the 1991 economic reforms and joining the World Trade Organisation.

 

The measures also caused large losses to oilseed farmers, including mustard-rapeseed growers. The reference to import bills also highlights contradictions in India's international mustard trade, and the government's skewed trade policies on edible oils that continue to affect the whole oil extraction industry, and a problem whose solution lies less in GM technology and more in correcting trade policies.

New Delhi, (PTI) Accusing GEAC of "serious non- governance" and undertaking an "underground process to hide its misdeed", lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan today shot off a notice to the biotech regulator, asking it to make public the full biosafety dossier of GM mustard.

 

Noting that the risk assessment report put up by the Environment Ministry is of "limited value", the notice sent by Bhushan to Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) chairman Amita Prasad also asked the regulator to provide a minimum time of 120 days for feedback on the report to allow independent scientists nationally and internationally to respond.

India is steeped in a synthesised controversy created by Monsanto on the first GM crop, supposedly approved for commercialisation. Engaged in litigation on many fronts, Monsanto is trying to subvert our patent laws, Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, Essential Commodities Act and Competition Act. It is behaving as if there is no Parliament, no democracy, no sovereign laws in India to which it is subject. Or it simply doesn’t have any regard for them. In another theatre, Monsanto and Bayer are merging. They were one as MoBay (MonsantoBayer), part of the poison cartel of I.G. Farben. The controlling stakes of both corporations lie with the same private equity firms. The expertise of these firms is in war. I.G. Farben, Adolf Hitler’s economic powerhouse and pre-war Germany’s highest foreign exchange earner, was also a foreign intelligence operation. Hermann Schmitz was president of I.G. Farben, Schmitz’s nephew Max Ilgner was a director of I.G. Farben, while Max’s brother Rudolph Ilgner ran the New York arm as vice-president of Chemnyco.

Subhayan Chakraborty | New Delhi, Activists have claimed that the environment safety assessment of the genetically modified (GM) variety of mustard, recently cleared as safe by a technical panel of the government, involved significantly fewer tests than had been done for the last such food crop, BT brinjal.

 

A technical sub-committee under the environment ministry had, on Monday, declared the Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) seed and the technology behind it to be safe for human consumption and the environment.