At a virtual news briefing on [Nov. 23], PhilRice Healthier Rice Project Leader Dr. Renante L. Ordonio said everyone has the chance to give their comments to the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) regarding their application for commercial propagation of [Golden Rice].

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However, Ordonio said the vision of Golden Rice hitting the domestic market is far from reality as the crop shall undergo further regulatory processes and approvals, such as variety registration and nutritional test after securing a commercial propagation permit. More so, Ordonio said they accept the fact that the commercial propagation application could also face opposition, thus, dragging the application process further.

But based on their rough estimates, Ordonio said they are hopeful that the Golden Rice would be distributed in the market as early as 2023.

“The reality is that there are oppositions. We used to expect to receive permits as early as possible but it did not happen as the application process dragged on. But we are hopeful that [it will be done by 2023],” he said.

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PhilRice eyes to conduct its pilot scale deployment of Golden Rice in 7 provinces with high incidence of Vitamin A deficiency …. [In 2019], the Philippine government approved the biosafety permit of Golden Rice (GR2E) for food, feed and processing (FFP) use after it concluded that the genetically modified crop is as “safe” for human consumption as the conventional staple.

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