Government transparency move on production, import of GM crops triggers row
NEW DELHI: The government has issued a draft notification to bring greater transparency to the decision-making process regarding production and import of genetically modified (GM) crops. However, petitioners and environmental activists said the move is superficial, and inconsistent with a Supreme Court directive.
The notification came in the backdrop of last year’s Supreme Court order following two decades of hearing a batch of petitions against GM crops. It categorically asked the central government to get into broader and more transparent consultations to evolve a national policy on GM crops.
The draft notification proposed amendments to rules to ensure greater transparency in the decision-making process of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), which is responsible for approving and regulating GM organisms, crops, and products.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change proposed an amendment in the Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Micro-Organisms/ Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells Rules, 1989.
The notification issued on December 31 says members of the GEAC will now be required to disclose any personal or professional interests that may affect their judgment.
To implement these measures, experts will need to submit written declarations outlining any “conflict of interest” when they join the committee.
They must also update these declarations whenever new circumstances arise. If there is uncertainty about whether a conflict exists, the committee chairman will make the final decision, the notification said.
“It appears that the Government of India is doing some perfunctory things, without reading the Supreme Court’s judgement carefully,” said Kavitha Kuruganti, a farmers’ rights activist and an expert on GM crops.