States oppose setting up of biotech regulatory authority

The Madhya Pradesh government has reacted strongly to the setting up of the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI), accusing the centre of attempting to impinge upon the autonomy of the state. The BRAI bill was approved by the union cabinet and is expected to be tabled in the Parliament. Orissa, Kerala, Assam and several other States have also been opposing the bill.

The BRAI, as proposed in the Bill, will be the clearing house/ facilitator/ approver for applications pertaining to GMO. It is also expected to take over the functions of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, which will assume the role of “appraiser” instead of “approver. This will have disastrous consequences for Indian agriculture, which still relies heavily on traditional technologies.

According to Section 81 of the Bill, this will have an overriding effect over state-level Acts and Regulations since it makes the proposed authority solely responsible for releasing and controlling GMOs throughout the country and envisages only an advisory role for states. This ignores the constitutional powers of the state governments over agriculture and health, and goes against the federal structure.
 

 Green pepper to the rescue of African bananas

In a major breakthrough, crop scientists have successfully transferred genes from green peppers to bananas that enable the crop to resist the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), one of the most devastating banana disease  in the Great Lakes region of Africa that causes about half a billion dollars worth of damage yearly. The researchers are poised to begin confined field trials in Uganda soon. The transformed bananas, infused with plant ferredoxin-like amphipathic protein (Pflp) or hypersensitive response-assisting protein (Hrap) from green pepper, have exhibited strong resistance to BXW in the laboratory and screenhouses. Scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda, in partnership with African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), would soon be evaluating these promising resistant lines under confined field trials after the Ugandan National Biosafety Committee recently approved the conduct of the tests. A biotechnologist says that although there is still a long way to go before the transgenic bananas find their way into farmer’s fields, this breakthrough is a significant step in the fight against the deadly banana disease.

The Hrap and Pflp genes work by rapidly killing the cells that come into contact with the disease-spreading bacteria, essentially blocking it from spreading any further. Hopefully, this will boost the arsenal available to fight BXW and help save millions of farmer livelihoods in the Great Lakes region.

  A new by law on GMO products in Turkey

The Turkish government recently passed a new by law for genetically-modified organisms (GMO) and products. The new arrangement that came into effect on 26 September includes provisions on import, export, labelling, sales, marketing, inspection, control and processing of GMO products in Turkey. Under the new GMO bylaw, the ban on use of genetically-modified organisms and products in baby food will continue in line with Biosafety Law. Prohibition on production of genetically-modified plants and animals in Turkey will continue as well. Accordingly, importer companies must declare an analysis report from an internationally-accredited laboratory or a document on gene type and amount of GMO or products. The import of GMO and products will be allowed following tests by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture. The GMOs and products to be used in non-food products will be allowed following cooperation with relevant ministries or public institutions. All producers must put a warning label on foods that contain genetically-modified organisms. These warning messages must read "genetically-modified" or "produced from genetically-modified..." or "contains genetically-modified..." If a GMO food's combination or nutrition facts are different from its equivalent, consumers must be warned against any health risks on the labelling. Labelling of feed must conform to the same system.