Manila, The Philippines
September 20, 2007
Source:
SciDev.Net
A Philippine court has temporarily halted an application to
bring genetically modified (GM) rice to the country, pending a
study of possible health and environmental effects.
A temporary restraining order was issued on 18 September after
Greenpeace, together with other non governmental organisations,
challenged the Philippine government's right to approve
Bayer Crop Science's
LL62, a herbicide-tolerant type of hybrid rice.
The order prohibits the
Department of Agriculture and the
Bureau of Plant Industry
(BPI) from approving Bayer's application to introduce LL62 for
food, animal feed and the manufacture of other products.
A statement from the court said the order would "preserve the
status quo until the merits of the case can be heard". No date
has yet been set for the a new hearing.
Bayer submitted its application to BPI in August 2006. If
eventually approved, it will be the first GM rice in the
Philippines.
Environmental group Greenpeace filed its injunction on 23 August
this year, citing several concerns over LL62, particularly the
absence of public consultations, as required by the Philippine
law. The injunction also pushes for a review of the approval
process for GM plants in the country.
"It will be a big mistake to allow GM rice to enter our food
supply. It has never been proven safe for human consumption and
poses grave risks to the environment and to our health," said
Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Genetic Engineering
Campaigner.
Agnes Lintao, policy officer for Southeast Asia Regional
Initiatives for Community Empowerment (Searice), another of the
petitioners, said approval of LL62 would open the floodgates to
further GM rice contamination in the Philippines and that the
government should abandon all applications for GM organisms.
Bayer say the LL62 rice variety is safe for human consumption,
and produces a protein conferring herbicide tolerance that is
commercially available in Canada, the European Union, Japan,
Mexico, Russia and the United States.
"Bayer Crop Science believes that this rice poses no harm on
human health, food or feed. It has also been confirmed in many
trials that it did not exhibit weedy characteristics, or
negatively affect other organisms," said the company's
communications manager, Reynaldo Cutanda. |
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