Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare of the Republic of India

03/14/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/14/2023 07:38

Testing of Genetically Modified Crops

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Testing of Genetically Modified Crops

Posted On: 14 MAR 2023 7:04PM by PIB Delhi

There is a well established regulatory framework for approval of Genetically Modified (GM) crops as per "Rules for the Manufacture/Use/Import/Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms, Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells, 1989" under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 in the Country.

Evaluation of each application of GM crop is done mandatorily on a case-to-case basis after a thorough examination of health, environment, food and feed safety assessment studies undertaken in a systematic and scientific manner as per prescribed guidelines, manuals and standard operating procedures stipulated by various regulatory agencies under the Rules, 1989 from time to time. The data generated by the applicants is reviewed at every step in the development process of GM crops by various Statutory Committees under the Rules, 1989 such as Institutional Biosafety Committee, Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation and Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee.

A series of guidelines and protocols have been issued by Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change relating to Genetically Modified Organisms and product thereof as under:

  1. Recombinant DNA Safety Guidelines, 1990
  2. Revised Guidelines for Research in Transgenic Plants, 1998
  3. Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Genetically Engineered Plants, 2008
  4. Guidelines for the monitoring of Confined Field Trials of Regulated, Genetically Engineered (GE) Plants, 2008
  5. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Confined Field Trials of Regulated, Genetically Engineered (GE) Plants, 2008
  6. Protocol for Food and Feed Safety Assessment of GE crops, 2008
  7. Guidelines and Handbook for Institutional Bio-safety Committees (IBSCs), 2011
  8. Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Plants: A Guide for Stakeholders, 2016
  9. Guidelines for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Plants, 2016.
  10. Risk Analysis Framework, 2016.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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