- India has rejected a large shipment of food aid from
the United States because it contained genetically modified food, the Financial
Times has learned.
-
- The shipment of maize and soya - part of the US government's
annual $100m in food aid to parts of India that suffer from chronic malnutrition
- is thought to have contained bio-engineered content, say Indian officials.
-
- The US, which is appealing against the ruling in New
Delhi, says it cannot guarantee that any shipment of maize will be free
of GM content, since GM foods are regularly mixed with non-GM foods in
the US.
-
- If the US appeal is rejected, it could have negative
implications for the commercial development of GM crops in India.
-
- Last year Zambia attracted strong criticism when it rejected
international food aid because it had GM content.
-
- "We are not against GM foods per se," said
A M Gokhale, chairman of the Indian committee that rejected the consignment
last year. "But if there is reason to believe that there may be damage
to human health, we have the right to reject any import."
-
- New Delhi's rejection of the food aid has deepened confusion
about India's stance on genetic modification. Last year New Delhi gave
the green light for the introduction of BT cotton in India - its first
approval of a GM crop.
-
- However, since then the committee that determines India's
GM policy has regularly held up or postponed approval of other such crops,
including mustard.
-
- Officials say there is strong political opposition to
GM crops, which many non-governmental organisations depict as a tool of
multinational companies to undermine India's farmers. In addition, there
are fears some GM grains cause allergies, such as skin rashes.
-
- But Kameswara Rao, head of the Foundation for Biotechnology
Awareness in Bangalore, said the Indian government was more concerned about
protecting its own nascent GM sector than about fears over public health.
"There is no public health issue here - that is a red herring,"
said Mr Rao. "India is developing its own GM variants and there are
people on the government committee who are funding the research."
-
- The appeal over the US maize, which will be heard later
this month, is likely to provide a clear signal on whether India will in
future accept trade or aid imports that include GM content. It could also
signal New Delhi's willingness to take on political forces opposed to GM
foods in general.
-
- Indian economists say the country badly needs another
"green revolution", in which new hybrids developed by scientists
helped to boost rice and wheat yields in the 1970s and 1980s and to make
the country self-sufficient in food.
-
- Although India now has more than 60m tonnes in food stocks
- about a quarter of the global total - its population growth is outstripping
agricultural yield growth for the first time in a generation.
-
- Many government scientists believe GM crops are the answer
to the country's long-term food security. But senior officials say it will
be difficult for India to accept further food imports unless there is clear
indication of whether GM components are included.
-
- "We have the right to look at each GM issue on a
case-by-case basis," said M.M. Verma, a senior official at India's
department of environment. Roughly a third of US corn output and three-quarters
of its soyabean output is bio-engineered.
-
- http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/ft020103.txt
-
- http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=
|
