The Ministry of Environment and Forests has formulated the ‘Rules for the Manufacture, Use, Import and Export and Storage of Hazardous Micro-Organisms / Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells, 1989’, notified under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
These Rules cover the areas of research as well as activities involving manufacture, use, import, export, storage and large scale applications of Genetically Modified (GM) Organisms and products made there from throughout India. The Rules are supported by biosafety guidelines for evaluating environmental and health safety aspects of GM products. The guidelines and protocols are updated regularly and are in line with the international norms prescribed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, CODEX Alimentarius Commission and International Plant Protection Convention.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has allowed the field trials of GM crops subject to compliance of stringent norms such as (i) maintaining a crop specific isolation distance as well as biological and physical barriers as per the ‘Minimum Indian Seed Certification Standards’ recommended by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research; (ii) submission of a validated event specific protocol to detect the level of contamination at 0.01% level of detection before initiating the field trials; and (iii) designating a lead scientist responsible for the field trials. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has informed the Hon’ble Supreme Court that biosafety data on Bt cotton and Bt brinjal are available at websites
www.envfor.nic.in and
www.dbtbiosafety.nic.in for public scrutiny. It has been further committed that biosafety data of other crops will also be posted on the websites as and when the studies are completed.
Minister of State for the Ministry of Environment and Forests (Independent charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh replied in a written question by Sri Nandamuri Harikrishna, ShriM. V. Mysura Reddy and ShriR.C. Singh in Rajya Sabha today.
