The Union government has put on hold the clearances of field trials of certain genetically modified crops (GM), after it inadvertently put them as ‘approved’ on the Environment Ministry’s website recently.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India’s apex biotech regulatory committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on last Tuesday put on its website the decision of its 117th meeting held in March, clearing field trials of GM rice, wheat, maize, castor and cotton for the upcoming kharif season. The clearances were subject to the submission of ‘no-objection-certificate (NOC)’ from the respective state governments.