Indian Council for Agricultural Research [...] writing to Syngenta and the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board to allow it unfettered freedom to go about the research in India. [...] ”We too have received the technology. But the Board is too cautious. The stringent regulatory mechanism is taking too much time. If we are allowed to select our own material, it will speed up the conduct of field trials and safety tests,” Prof Datta said.

Currently under controlled field trials - the second stage of strict examination of any transgenic seed - genetically modified (GM) drought trait rice would take at least 8 years for commercialisation in India, said

GM rice has already completed polyhouse test - the crop grown under lock and key - successfully which is the first stage of examination. [...] By 2010-11, the test will enter into open field trials under strict government control which will run at least for two years.

India’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee is likely to propose an extended test to determine the safety of genetically modified brinjal, said a person associated with the apex body to clear GM crops. The test involves feeding rats with Bt brinjal, a GM variety, for 180 days, compared with the current 90 days. This is likely to extend the period of evaluation for safety by a year.

When Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, announced his decision not to go ahead with the commercialisation of GM (genetically modified) brinjal, the concerned sections of civil society felt a huge sense of relief. This limited success of civil society would not have been possible but for the sustained efforts of two petitioners and their counsel to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention at every stage in order to make the government accountable.

The 2009 draft of the National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill, [...] has already drawn severe criticism for failing to be transparent in its dealings. On Tuesday noted biosafety expert Vandana Shiva lashed out against two specific clauses. ”The bill says not only can we not make choices about our food but we can’t even speak about safety. We can be jailed and fined. That does not happen in a democracy! ”Finding out that for expressing your right to safe food, you can be thrown into jail is the highest level of terrorism and we will not allow the state to become a terrorist,” Shiva told reporters.

Appealing to his warring colleagues to ”speak with one voice” on the issue of biotechnology in food security and genetically modified (GM) crops including Bt brinjal, Dr. Singh appeared to back the moratorium decision but emphasised that the process could not be open-ended, adding a time frame would have to be set. It was clarified that the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, would remain the body to address ”concerns for resolving all scientific issues relating to Bt brinjal including safety aspects.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stepped in to make it clear that Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh will not have the last word on the introduction of Bt Brinjal or any GM (genetically modified) food.This comes after a strong note from Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to the Prime Minister last week suggesting that ad hoc decisions on GM foods — a clear reference to the moratorium on Bt Brinjal — would ”set the clock back”, demoralise Indian scientists and jeopardies R&D crucial to food security.

”Whoever, without any evidence or scientific record misleads the public about the safety of the organisms and products specified in Part I or Part II or Part III of the Schedule I, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to one year and with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees or with both.”

Companies with any seeds of Bt brinjal, the genetically modified version of the vegetable, will have to register the details with the government, to ensure none of it is sowed or otherwise gets into the market. [...] the apex Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee decided the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources should be asked to store all the Bt brinjal seeds.

The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said it was preparing to release the GM rice known as Golden Rice for commercial cultivation in India by 2013. [...] Golden Rice would be available to farmers and consumers only after it has been authorised by the agriculture, environment, health, and food safety agencies of their countries. Public health officials, non-government organisations, grain traders, and private industry will be consulted in each country before Golden Rice is introduced.