THE Philippine government has approved the biosafety permit of Golden Rice (GR2E) for food, feed and processing (FFP) use after it concluded that the genetically modified crop, which seeks to reduce vitamin A deficiency (VAD), is as “safe” for human consumption as the conventional staple.
In a 22-page consolidated report, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) pointed out that the Department of Health-Biosafety Committee (DOH-BC) concluded that GR2E “will not cause significant adverse health effects to human and animal health.”
Furthermore, the report said consumption of GR2E “is unlikely to result in allergic reaction.”
The report, published recently, said, “the regulated article is as safe and nutritious as food or feed derived from conventional rice varieties.”
The regulators’ approval came over two years after GR2E’s proponents, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), applied for the biosafety permit.
“With this FFP approval, we bring forward a very accessible solution to our country’s problem on vitamin A deficiency that’s affecting many of our preschool children and pregnant women,” PhilRice Executive Director Dr. John de Leon said in a statement on Wednesday when the biosafety permit was formally published in a national daily.
The Irri described the FFP approval for GR2E as a “regulatory milestone in the journey to develop and deploy” the GM crop in the Philippines.
“With this approval, PhilRice and IRRI will now proceed with sensory evaluations and finally answer the question that many Filipinos have been asking: What does Golden Rice taste like?” IRRI said.
“The Philippines has long recognized the potential to harness biotechnology to help address food and nutrition security, environmental safety, as well as improve the livelihoods of farmers,” IRRI Director General Matthew Morrel said.
IRRI said the Philippines is now among the few countries that have recognized GR2E as safe for human consumption after Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
It’s about time—Tolentino
Former IRRI Deputy Director General and now Monetary Board Member V. Bruce Tolentino said the approval of the GR2E has been “delayed” for so long, depriving Filipinos of a viable option to combat VAD.
“It’s about time. It’s been much delayed. In fact, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Bangladesh already approved it. We started the research and yet we are lagging behind,” Tolentino told the BusinessMirror.
Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines Executive Secretary Abraham Manalo said GR2E is the “first” locally developed GM crop approved for FPP in the country.
Manalo added that the BPI has already approved around 60 events for FFP from crops, such as corn, soybean, cotton, potato, sugar beet, which are all developed abroad. “This approval of a Pinoy biotech product is a testament to science-based regulation in our country,” he told the BusinessMirror.
IRRI said the GR2E is “intended to be used in combination with existing approaches to overcome VAD, including eating foods that are naturally high in vitamin A or beta-carotene, eating foods fortified with vitamin A, taking vitamin A supplements, and optimal breastfeeding practices.”
IRRI said VAD among Filipino children aged six months to five years increased from 15.2 percent in 2008 to 20.4 percent in 2013 despite the successful public health interventions, such as oral supplementation, complementary feeding and nutrition education.
“The beta-carotene content of Golden Rice aims to provide 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimated average requirement of vitamin A for pregnant women and young children,” it said.
“To complete the Philippine biosafety regulatory process, Golden Rice will require approval for commercial propagation before it can be made available to the public,” it added.
1 comment
Terrible ignorance and stupid!