{"id":66143,"date":"2015-11-09T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-09T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=66143"},"modified":"2015-11-09T09:36:46","modified_gmt":"2015-11-09T09:36:46","slug":"india-drives-forward-first-gmo-crops-under-veil-of-secrecy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/11\/india-drives-forward-first-gmo-crops-under-veil-of-secrecy\/","title":{"rendered":"India Drives Forward First GMO Crops Under Veil of Secrecy"},"content":{"rendered":"

4 Nov 2015 – <\/em>A secret application has been made to India\u2019s GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) for a new variety of GMO mustard to be released for cultivation.<\/p>\n

If accepted, this would be the first GMO variety to be approved in India \u2013 and could open the way for many more such applications for other major crops including staple foods like rice, wheat and chickpeas.<\/p>\n

\"india<\/a><\/p>\n

According to India\u2019s\u00a0Business Standard magazine<\/a>, Deepak Pental, developer of the \u2018Dhara Mustard Hybrid 11\u2019 (DMH11) mustard seed at Delhi University, said that he had sent the proposal to the GEAC in mid-September. The GEAC is expected to meet again next week to consider the application.<\/p>\n

The GEAC, part of the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, is the statutory authority that appraises proposals for field trials and commercial sale of GM crops. The final decision rests with the Union environment, forests and climate change minister.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0official website of the GEAC<\/a>\u00a0makes no mention of this or any other recent application \u2013 indeed the entire website appears to be many years out of date and unmaintained. The most recent \u2018status of pending projects\u2019 reports\u00a0dates from March 2007<\/a>. No minutes of meetings have been posted since April 2012.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s\u00a0Economic Times<\/em>\u00a0also reported on 3rd September that a secret meeting of the GEAC had been\u00a0called that day<\/a>\u00a0to discuss 17 applications for field trials of six GMO including varieties of cotton, corn, brinjal, chickpea, rice and wheat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe GEAC did meet today and certain decisions were taken. However, they cannot be shared at this stage as minutes have to be made and the minister\u2019s approval is required as well\u201d<\/em>, an unnamed\u00a0\u201csenior official from the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF)\u201d<\/em>\u00a0told ET, which added:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decisions taken at the GEAC were kept absolutely wrapped in secrecy at the Environment ministry. The members of the GEAC whom ET spoke to refused to share any information on the decisions taken at the meeting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The DMH11 GMO mustard, developed by Delhi University, embodies transgenic technology designed to facilitate hybridisation. Deepak Pental also claims the variety delivers a 30% yield increase.<\/p>\n

A veil of secrecy over GMO deliberations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prominent campaigner\u00a0Aruna Rodrigues<\/a>, who in 2013 challenged the Indian government over its\u00a0\u201creckless promotion\u201d<\/em>\u00a0of GMO crops in India\u2019s Supreme Court, has denounced the secrecy surrounding the current round of GMO applications.<\/p>\n

Consistent with the total absence of any recent information on the GEAC website, she argues that official regulators have hidden all data about the GM mustard from the public and the independent scientific community \u2013 in the process violating constitutional provisions and the orders of the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court in 2008 had ordered that biosafety data be placed in the public domain when petitioners argued that unless the toxicity and allergenicity data are made known to the public, the applicants and concerned scientists in the country would not be in a position to make effective representations to the concerned authorities.<\/p>\n

Rodrigues believes that the mandatory rigorous biosafety protocols required by law have not been carried out and the data pertaining to DMH11 therefore needs to be concealed.<\/p>\n

According to Rodrigues, the secrecy surrounding GM mustard exemplifies the appalling state of regulation and smacks of corruption. She concludes the Indian government is using underhand means to introduce GM crops into Indian agriculture and that there appears to be no place for science or transparency in this process.<\/p>\n

Kavitha Kuruganti, Convenor of Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), has also been seeking biosafety data for DMH11 GM Mustard without success.\u00a0\u201cGEAC is functioning in a highly secretive fashion\u201d<\/em>, she complains.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd while the nation does not know what is happening inside the regulatory institutions with applications like this GM mustard, biosafety data is being repeatedly declined by the regulators. What are the regulators hiding and whose interests are they protecting?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She goes on to ask:\u00a0\u201cWhy should the regulators be trusted for their safety assessment when in the case of both Bt cotton and Bt brinjal, the Supreme Court Technical Expert Committee (SC TEC) which took up a sample biosafety analyses in 2013 showed that the regulators were wrong in concluding the safety of these GMOs? \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis current Government seems to be keen to conduct regulatory processes in a secretive fashion. Our past requests to meet with the Environment Minister to share our concerns met with no success. As the government gets more secretive and opaque around regulation, the public has a right to know what are they afraid of, if everything is safe and scientific?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Four expert reports conclude: India is not ready for GMOs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed approval of DMH11 also flies in the face of four official reports that recommend against introducing GMOs to India due to the lack of integrity, independence and scientific expertise in assessing GMO risk:<\/p>\n