Sri Sanjay Parikh

Advocate
Phone:98 914 96748  
 

30 April, 2009

Gene Campaign's PIL in Supreme Court to setup an Expert Committee on GMOs

Gene Campaign counsel Sanjay Parikh submitted  to the Hon’ble Supreme Court that an Expert Committee be set up to examine the legal framework governing the research and use of GMOs in India with a specific Terms of Reference. He argued that an expert committee be formed same as it was done for hazardous waste. The Supreme Court in 1997 had ordered a  high powered expert committee Chaired by MGK Menon for regulation of hazardous waste. The Court has taken note on record and asked Government to file its response. The next hearing is scheduled in the last week of August 2009. The proposed Committee and the TOR for the Committee are as given below:

SUGGESTED EXPERT COMMITTEE

The expert committee to examine the legal framework for GMOs should be representative of relevant aspects related to developing GMOs and understanding their impact on the environment and human health. This committee should include at least the following fields:

CHAIR- Legal Expert

1. Agronomy – Dr. Rajendra Prasad, former Head of Agronomy, IARI. Currently, member NAAS ( National Academy of Agriculture Sciences

2. Genetics/Plant Breeding –

Dr SA Patil, ex Director IARI

Dr S BalaRavi- EX ICAR, currently Advisor, MSSRF

3. Plant molecular biology – Dr K Veluthambi, Madurai University

4. Environmental sciences and Ecology

Prof PS Ramakrishnan, Emeritus professor , JNU,

Sri Shekhar Singh ( former member Planning Commission and Supreme Court appointee for forest issues in Andaman & Nicobar) 

5.  Soil Sciences- Dr Sudeep Mitra, Environmental Sciences, JNU

6.  Food Safety -  Expert from National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad

7.  Social science – Prof E Haribabu , Dean Social Sciences, Central University, Hyderabad

8.  Legal experts – Dr Rajeev Dhavan,  and a Representative of Law Ministry

TOR FOR EXPERT COMMITTEE TO EVALUATE LEGAL REGIME FOR REGULATING GMOS IN AGRICULTURE

1.    Regulation should be based on a sound law enacted to protect environmental and public health.

2.    Regulation must be specific to different categories of biotech products and explain the rationale for regulation

3.    A different set of codified regulations must be developed to govern contained, confined and large-scale field tests.

4.    There must be an opportunity for public comments (at least three months) on DRAFT Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA).

5.     Regulatory authorities should address all public comments while making the final decision.

6.     For a proper ex-ante environmental risk assessment, following must be taken into account:

a.     Morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular characterization of the GMO in question.

b.     Reproductive biology of the GMO in question (the gene flow and genetic stability).

c.      Phyto-geography of sexually compatible species and wild relatives of the GMO.

d.    Use, knowledge, experience and familiarity with the original unmodified organism to identify differences, if any with that of the modified GMO.

e.     Impacts on local biodiversity – both on farm and natural

f.      Special characteristics of the pathway that will be affected by modification and its potential impact and consequences, if any.

g.     Changes to the existing agricultural practices if the GMO in question is commercialized.

h.     Post commercialization stewardship to monitor for changes to the agricultural environment (cumulative impacts due to repeated and prolonged use).

i.       Mitigation protocols to address any leaks and unintended consequences

j.      Long term impacts, specially the potential for weediness.

k.     Develop a set of surveillance indicators.

7.    Studies on socio-economic impact  - when the GMO is to go for commercialization. This should include issues like crops for which India is a center of origin; impact of GMOs on indigenous knowledge of agriculture and the impact of GMOs on traditional agriculture practices.

8.    Food safety analysis including allergenicity and toxicity testing - when it is being considered for entry into the food/feed chain.

9.     Security features during open field-testing to be enforced. Physical (fencing, containment, security guards, bagging, etc.) biological ( to check pollen flow eg removing anthers etc)and temporal (deferring planting and flowering of the GM crop so that it does not flower at the same time as the other sexually compatible plants)

10.  Exploring alternatives to genetic engineering.  For instance, what other options exist to achieve the intended purpose of the GMO.

11.  Molecular tagging for identifying the introduced GMO for detection and identification (molecular passport).

12.  Field-testing protocol to check for compliance and proper record keeping.