The government issued more stringent regulations on the propagation and sale of biotechnology seeds in the country in a bid to lift the Supreme Court ban on field trials of genetically modified organisms.
Agriculture Undersecretary Dennis Guerrero said in a statement government agencies led by Science, Agriculture, Environment, Health and Interior Departments had finalized and signed a joint department circular to address the issues raised by the Supreme Court in December 2015.
The high tribunal ordered a ban on field trials of GMOs, including Bt eggplant.
The Supreme Court also ordered a temporary ban on the use, import, commercialization and propagation of GMO crops, saying DA’s Administrative Order No. 8 lacked minimum safety requirements.
AO No. 8, issued in 2002, set the rules and regulations for the importation and release into the environment of plants and plant products derived from the use of modern biotechnology.
Guerrero said the new GMO guidelines had been made stringent and transparent as environment safety assessment procedures would be cross-checked by the five agencies before the local cultivation of GM crops.
The Philippines was the first country in Asia which allowed the propagation and commercialization of GM crops, including Bacillus thuringiensis corn, which is now a highly cultivated crop in the country.
Philippine Maize Federation Inc. president Roger Navarro welcomed the new set of guidelines, saying they would be helpful to the country’s corn industry.
“I haven’t read the full context of the new order yet, but I think this will be a good development for the corn industry and the total livestock sector,” Navarro said.
Navarro earlier warned that the Supreme Court’s decision would greatly effect the country’s corn and livestock industry.
Guerrero, the Agriculture undersecretary, said the new GM guidelines would strengthen biotechnology’s role in the country’s agriculture sector and address food security concerns while ensuring that the environment and the health of people plants and animals were protected.
“The new rules have tightened environmental scrutiny before biosafety permits are issued, addressing one of the loopholes the Supreme Court cited when it voided the old rules, in place since 2002,” Guerrero said.
The new guidelines call for the formation of biosafety committees to review applications for field testing and cultivation of GM crops. The DOST-biosafety committee shall evaluate applications for contained use and confined test of regulated articles.
Guerrero said the DA-biosafety committee shall evaluate applications for field trial, commercial propagation and transboundary movement of regulated articles. It shall also evaluate the independent reports as well as socio-economic, ethical and cultural considerations.
The DENR-biosafety committee will lead in evaluating environmental risks and impacts of regulated articles for field trial, commercial propagation, and direct use of living modified organisms while the DOH-biosafety committee will evaluate the health impacts of regulated articles for field trial, commercial propagation, and direct use of living modified organisms.
“The DA is now tasked to broaden membership in the scientific and technical review panel to accommodate expertise in the evaluation of the potential risks of regulated articles to the environment and human health,” Guerrero said.