States may get only 90 days to decide on GM crop trials

‘Agriculture is a State subject… Through this move, Centre is putting pressure on States’

To make trials of genetically-modified crops more predictable, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) — the apex regulator of genetically modified (GM) crops — has said that States must decide, within 90 days, if they will allow crop developers to conduct field trials of their crops.

If the States didn’t respond to an application within three months, the applicant could presume that permission to conduct a trial had been granted, say the minutes of the GEAC meeting that was held on June 20.

“…The Committee opined that adequate information should be provided to State governments and a clause may also be imposed that decision regarding NOC to be communicated to applicant within 90 days from the date of application and if, in the mean time, the State governments don’t take any appropriate action, the decision should be considered positive by the applicant…” says the note.

According to the rules, the States must issue a formal No Objection Certificate (NOC) before trials are carried out on university plots. Several States — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Karnataka — have said they will never allow GM crops to be tested in their precincts.

States dither after nod

Crop developers, however, say that even those States that allow trials are extremely unpredictable. “Sometimes permission to conduct trials can come in after the sowing season is over,” said K.K. Narayanan, managing director, Meta-Helix, a biotechnology company that is developing GM cotton as well as rice, “this 90-day-deadline is an important step because it takes months of planning and money — before any trial to be conducted.”

Rajasthan withdrew its No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued to the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, University of Delhi, for conducting trials of GM mustard.

Maharashtra last year withdrew permission for testing genetically modified rice, corn, brinjal and chickpea with seeds from companies such as Monsanto, Mahyco and BASF. This was after protests by groups such as the Swadeshi Jagran Manch.

However an independent panel, led by nuclear scientist, Anil Kakodkar, later recommended that trials restart.

Unconstitutional: activist

Rajesh Krishnan, a farmer and part of a coalition of activists that are against GM crops, said that the GEAC push violated the Constitution. “Agriculture is a State subject…this is pressure by the Centre to force States to grow GM crops and unconstitutional,” Mr. Krishnan told The Hindu .

A senior GEAC official, privy to the decision-making process, said that the directive wouldn’t put the States and the Centre into conflict. “A State that wants to deny permission can do so…but making it time-bound would mean that it has to do so with reasons. Merely sitting on a decision sends a negative signal,” he added.