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May, 2007
Source:
International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI)
Economic Considerations of
Biosafety and Biotechnology Regulations in India
Proceedings of a conference in New Delhi, India
24-25 August 2006
Source:
http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/books/indiaproc.asp
Executive summary
India was one of the first Asian
countries to invest in agricultural biotechnology research and
to set up a biosafety system to regulate the approval of
genetically modified (GM) crops. Despite the Government of
India's acknowledged interest in encouraging growth in the
biotechnology sector and the increasing number of research
initiatives in the public and private domains, the approval of
new applications of transgenic crops has been rather slow.
The country has only approved one GM crop, Bt (Bacillus
thuringiensis) cotton, which was planted on 1.3 million hectares
by 1 million farmers in 2006. There are several other GM crops
and traits in the biosafety regulatory pipeline. At the same
time, an increasing number of ministries and government
departments are getting involved in biosafety, marketing, and
trade regulations. As a result, the Indian agribiotech sector is
in a transition phase both in terms of research applications and
the regulatory framework.
In this context, the International Food Policy Research
Institute under the South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP)
organized a policy dialogue on August 24 and 25, 2006, in New
Delhi, India, in collaboration with the Research and Information
System for Developing Countries (RIS). The dialogue was designed
to provide a platform for national and international economic
experts and important Indian stakeholders to discuss economic
considerations related to biosafety and biotechnology in India.
These proceedings are a summary of the discussions held during
the dialogue.
The policy dialogue highlighted the following six critical
economic issues and associated recommendations on biotechnology
and biosafety regulations in India:
- The cost and stringency of
the current regulatory system and its impact on the overall
growth of the sector calls for further examination.
The relevance and economic feasibility of the proposed
mandatory labeling regulation of GM food and feed in India
is largely questioned by policy specialists and economists.
The compliance with and enforcement of post-release
regulations have to be addressed, particularly with regard
to insect-resistance management and illegal seeds.
The existing research and application competence (including
capacity for developing crops of Indian priority) and
consumers' and farmers' ability to understand and adopt
agricultural biotechnology need to be strengthened.
There is a lack of clarity on GM food import approval, and
segregation strategies for non-GM crops should be encouraged
to maintain all export opportunities while allowing the
beneficial use of safe GM technology for Indian farmers.
The limited clarity, transparency, and leadership in the
regulatory procedure mean that better coordination is
required across all ministries to adapt policies to manage
environment, agriculture, consumer, and trade issues
together.
More generally, the conference
revealed the need for a better convergence of the Indian
government's overall objectives on agricultural biotechnology in
terms of the agricultural development process, the federal
regulatory framework, and the capacity needed to provide safe
access to approved biotechnology innovations to Indian farmers.
As a response to these critical policy issues, the Government of
India should consider conducting policy research to evaluate the
benefits and costs of different biosafety and biotechnology
regulatory options for transgenic crops and the products derived
thereof, in order to maximize the economic potential of
agricultural biotechnology for all Indian farmers and consumers
in a safe and responsible manner.
Full Proceedings:
http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/books/IndiaProc/IndiaProc.pdf
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