Did India’s GM mustard approval circumvent the law as anti-GMO activists claim?
Did India’s GM mustard approval circumvent the law as anti-GMO activists claim?
The Coalition of GM-free India, a group of NGOs opposing genetically modified crops, released a report on [January 6], alleging that no (independent) health expert ever participated in the GM mustard appraisal.
In a response issued on [January 7], the ministry said: “The Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES) report prepared by the sub-committee in 2016 with regard to the biosafety dossier of GM mustard was uploaded on the ministry’s website for inviting comments by the public for a period of 30 days (from September 5 to October 5, 2016).
“Further, the entire dossier was also made available for review by the public in the ministry’s office for the same duration,” it said.
It said a letter was received from Prof. Deepak Pental, the man behind GM mustard, in May 2022, indicating that GM technology deployed for the development of mustard has been well-tested and used for more than 20 years in Canada, the US, and Australia. “References indicated no untoward effect of the technology has been reported with respect to honey bees.”
…
In December, the government told the Parliament that extensive studies carried out on toxicity, allergenicity, compositional analyses, field trials, and environmental safety of GM mustard lines versus their non-transgenic comparators provided evidence that DMH-11 was safe for cultivation, food, and feed use.
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