A panel of scientists set up on the orders of the Supreme Court has recommended a ten-year moratorium on field trials of all genetically modified or Bt food crops. The six-member committee of technical experts set up by the Supreme Court came to this conclusion on the basis of the current overall status of food safety evaluation of Bt transgenics, including a review of the data on Bt cotton and Bt brinjal. The panel submitted an unanimous report calling for moratorium till specific sites for conducting field trials have been designated and certified, and sufficient mechanisms for monitoring the trials put in place.