Manila, The Philippines
August 17, 2007
By Jennifer Ng,
BusinessMirror
via
SEAMEO SEARCA
Multinational firm Monsanto
Philippines Inc. is asking the Department of Agriculture
(DA) to extend the permit it has been issued to propagate the
first Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn variant called the MON
810.
Monsanto has filed its application for an extension with the
Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), an attached agency of the DA.
“They are asking for the renewal of their permit to commercially
propagate their Bt corn,” said BPI director Joel Rudinas in an
interview.
Monsanto was granted a permit to commercially propagate Mon 810
on December 4, 2002. The permit would lapse at the end of
December this year.
BPI disclosed that it is still in the process of reviewing the
application and has asked Monsanto to provide them with
additional documents which the bureau did not indicate.
Under Administrative Order 8 issued by then Agriculture
Secretary Leonardo Q. Montemayor, Monsanto may be given another
five years to propagate its corn variant once the BPI approves
its application.
Mon 810 was the first genetically modified crop approved for
propagation by the DA here in the Philippines in 2002.
At the time, Bt corn was not welcomed particularly by
non-government organizations and environment advocates such as
Greenpeace, which thumbed down Bt corn due purportedly to its
adverse effect on human health.
The BPI has earlier assured the safety of Bt corn, saying that
the Scientific and Technical Review Panel composed of
independent scientists did not find evidence of potential risks
to humans.
Bt corn is a variety of corn where a specific Bt gene is
inserted to produce a protein that protects the corn plant from
feeding by Asiatic corn borers (ACB). This makes the corn plant
naturally resistant to attack by ACB. |
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