1.Disclose Biosafety Data of GM Crops: CIC
2.Ask? AND THE EXPERTS ANSWER
3.GENE CAMPAIGN CHALLENGES GOVERNMENT MOVE TO REMOVE REGULATORY OVERSIGHT ON IMPORT OF GM FOODS
---
1.Disclose Biosafety Data of GM Crops: CIC
ASHOK B SHARMA Financial Express, November 23 2007
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Disclose-bio-safety-data-of-GM-crops--CIC/242626/
New Delhi, November 23: Bringing to an end the controversy over the disclosure of bio-safety data on genetically modified (GM) food crops, the Central Information Commission (CIC) on Thursday directed the department to make the data for Bt brinjal public.
The CIC set aside the seed company, [Monsanto-] Mahyco's argument before the Commission that the disclosure of such data has significant commercial implications to the company.
The CIC bench headed by its chairman, Wajahat Habibullah said: 'any further grounds for non-disclosure are invalid even if the information is in the process of development'. It directed the CPIO and the department of biotechnology to provide the information within 10 working days. The appeal was filed by Divya Raghunandan of Greenpeace India on February 23, 2006 asking the toxicity, allergenicity and other relevant data for GM brinjal, rice, okra and mustard.
In its impleadment petition to the CIC, the seed company, Mahyco had claimed that the public disclosure of anything beyond the summaries of the bio-safety data for brinjal would affect the competitive interests of the company. The bio-safety data is generated completely by the company either in its own labs or in other private labs.
The commission has set a precedent across the world where bio-safety data of a yet to be commercialized transgenic crop has to be made public.
The DBT had claimed during the hearing that it has not generated relevant data on these crops as yet, despite the fact that it has been sanctioning open-air field trials of the GM crops for past three years, said Raghunandan
Taking cognizance of the willful delay by the DBT in the disclosure of the information, interpreted by the commission as non-compliance of its previous order in April this year, and thereby, causing loss of time and effort to the appellant, the CIC offered a financial compensation for the appellant, Divya Raghunandan of Greenpeace.
In his reaction to this verdict, Shekhar Singh of the National campaign for people's Right to Information said, 'this is a very important decision because it has positive implications not only on making public the data regarding GMOs but also sets a precedent that all information regarding public health and safety should be made available under the RTI act.'
---
2.Ask? AND THE EXPERTS ANSWER
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 4, Issue 46, Dec 1 2007 http://www.tehelka.com/story_main36.asp?filename=Op011207Ask.asp
GAURAV SINHA, Mumbai
Are genetically modified (GM) crops the answer to India's food concerns? Do they have any adverse impact on the environment?
SUMAN SAHAI, scientist
Genetically modified crops are not the answer to our country's food concerns. Our food security problems are different from those in other parts of the world, and need a different approach. India’s food problems are related to land fragmentation, poverty and the inability to buy food. Poor people, who subsist on marginal land holdings, live at starvation levels because they are neither able to grow enough food for themselves nor do they have any alternative means of income.
India has more than enough buffer stocks to feed its poor - the need of the hour is to increase the purchasing power of those who live below or near the poverty line, instead of indiscriminate genetic alteration of crops. Big corporations create genetically modified foods so that they can claim them as their inventions and take out patents on them. Their focus is not on addressing food concerns, rather on increasing the number of patents.
It is pathetic that our State-run research labs are toeing the line laid down by such business interests. Instead of using genetic engineering to solve real life problems, they are aping the agenda of these companies and are draining away the taxpayer’s money on such crops. Unwarranted genetic engineering is to be avoided at any cost.
As it is, India is extremely rich in genetic diversity and should tread very cautiously around the genetic engineering option. India is the place of origin for many crops, so fiddling with the genetic make-up of plants may lead to the contamination of their gene pool. Of particular concern is rice, which is at great risk as it is native to India.
Countries like Mexico and Peru - the centres of origin for corn and potato, respectively - do not allow tinkering with the genetic make-up of these crops and I find no reason why India should not do the same for rice.
---
3.GENE CAMPAIGN CHALLENGES GOVERNMENT MOVE TO REMOVE REGULATORY OVERSIGHT ON IMPORT OF GM FOODS
Gene Campaign, press release
Gene Campaign's writ petition against the deregulation of import of genetically modified foods came up for hearing before the Supreme Court on 19 November. The Bench comprising of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice J.M. Panchal heard the matter and issued notice on the main application as well as on the application for stay. Sri Sanjay Parikh, Counsel for Gene Campaign said that the notification on 23 August, 2007 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests granting exemption to Genetically Modified Foods and allowing their unrestricted entry into the country, is in violation of the Environment Protection Act as well as the right to health under Article 21.
Gene Campaign has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the notification issued by the Government of India (Ministry of Environment and Forests) on 23 August, 2007, which came into effect on 11 September, 2007, withdrawing all existing regulatory oversight over the import of GE foods. This development allows the import of GE foods without the importing agencies having to take any permission from regulatory agencies, as has been the case so far, or even to inform them.
Gene Campaign has prayed to the Court to strike down the notification since it is 'unconstitutional, being violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution; Gene Campaign has further prayed to the Court to strike down the new provisions since these give uncanalised power to the government which is likely to be abused and is therefore violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, Sri Sanjay Parikh, Counsel for the petitioners said.
So far, in view of the known health risks that are associated with GE foods, the government guidelines have required that import of GE foods can only take place with the express permission of the apex regulatory body in India, the GEAC ( Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) and these must be labeled.
Dr Suman Sahai , Convener of Gene Campaign said that the regulatory oversight we had, was necessary and appropriate since it had allowed India to monitor the entry of food products produced by a new technology that is known to produce toxic and allergic compounds. The Indian regulations which made it necessary for permission to be taken from national agencies, allowed them to monitor the entry of GM products into the country. These regulations had also allowed India to maintain vigil that food products rejected by other countries in Europe, Africa and Middle East are not in fact being dumped on us.
The arbitrary withdrawal of the regulatory oversight without any scientific reason and without any consultation with a range of stakeholders that are engaged with GE technology and policies associated with it, is inexplicable.
Very specially at a time when scientific evidence is growing from laboratory tests that genetically engineered foods can in fact cause serious damage to health, we need to upgrade our food testing systems and make them more stringent and comprehensive, not dismantle them, as the government is doing. It is incomprehensible that instead of strengthening our systems, the government has decided to withdraw all opportunities to test and regulate such novel and controversial foods.
Gene Campaign said it would be dangerous to allow unfettered access to unknown foodstuffs, more so when the country does not even have a liability law to fix responsibility and claim compensation in the event that something should go wrong and people suffer health damage from the consumption of such GE foods.
The new notification will in effect provide unrestricted entry to untested foods of dubious origins, specially since the imported GM food does not have to be labeled. This denies consumers their right to exercise free choice in the matter of the food they wish to eat. This regrettable move is therefore in violation of the Consumer Protection Act of India which grants consumers the right of informed choice.
The government’s new move goes against India’s long standing commitment to mandatory labeling of GE foods, a position the Indian delegation has consistently maintained in international negotiations, particularly at the WHO-FAO led Codex Committee on Food Labeling. Dr Sahai said these developments, both the dilution of India’s position on mandatory labeling and the curious deregulation of the GM food sector, appear to be the result of the increasing American pressure on Indian policy making to deregulate the sector on GM crops and foods, especially after the coming into force of the Indo US deal on Agriculture.