16 MPs want Govt to withdraw Bill on biotech regulator in India

Sixteen Members of Parliament have opposed the Biotechnology Regulator Authority of India (BRAI) Bill that was introduced in Parliament after the recess. They alleged that the Government was trying to circumvent the opposition on genetically modified (GM) crops across the country.

They have asked the Government to withdraw the bill and introduce a bio safety protection law in its place.

In a letter written to Union Minister for Science and Technology, they said the nation-wide debate on Bt brinjal, the first GM food crop to have been considered for commercial launch in the country, highlighted the objections and concerns of various sections on such crops.

The BRAI Bill proposes a single window clearance mechanism for GM crops in the country. At present Genetic Engineering Approval Committee receives and gives permissions for field trials after the companies received no-objection certificates from the respective States.

Put on hold for long, the Government introduced the bill on the first day of the session, when it resumed after a break.

“This debate also saw about 12 State Governments, including some large brinjal cultivating States, strongly opposing introduction of GM crops,” they said.
They felt that the introduction of the Bill was unexpected as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture recommended to the Government that the BRAI was not the way forward to regulate GM crops.

“We need to protect and enhance bio safety and to ensure democratic processes are adhered to when dealing with issues as important as food, farming and environment in the country,” they said in the letter.

Those who signed included Basudev Acharya (CPM), Thambidurai (AIADMK), Nama Nageswar Rao (TDP) and Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD).

ABLE-AG response

Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group (ABLE-AG), however, welcomed the bill.

“The biggest advantage of BRAI is that it will bring single-window clearance on approvals. We hope this will bring about the much-needed alignment in Central and States policies on biotech crop regulations. This will help avoid unnecessary regulatory delays,” Ram Kaundinya, Chairman of ABLE-AG, said.

The association, which represents companies working on agriculture-based biotechnologies, said that it provides for transparent mechanism to inform the public on clinical trials and regulatory decisions made by the authority.