Over 150 countries including India came together to review the implementation of core elements of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) in Hyderabad. Ram Kaundinya, the chairman of Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises, Agriculture Group (ABLE-AG) speaks to Sandip Das on biosafety issues. Excerpts
What is the objective of the recent meet on biosafety held in Hyderabad?
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) is an international agreement on biosafety. The Biosafety Protocol applies to the trans-boundary movement, transit, handling and use of all living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account risks to human health.
The Biosafety Protocol makes it clear that products from new technologies must be assessed on precautionary principle. For instance, it allows countries to ban imports of a living modified organism if they feel there is not enough scientific evidence that the product is safe.
What are the major bottlenecks in the way of countries adopting bio-safety norms?
Insufficient technical human resources, lack of institutional capacities, lack of awareness, insufficient funds for R&D, fewer products and irrational protests are some of the key factors that confront many developing countries in their bid to move to biosafety regulations. The ongoing meet considers these challenges as well.
Over the past decade, over 140 developing countries have received assistance from Global Environment Facility (GEF) to develop or implement national biosafety frameworks. However, only a small number of developing countries have moved beyond these projects to operationalise biosafety systems effectively. It means they implement regulatory submission, assessment, and decision-making processes in a consistent, transparent, and predictable manner.
How efficient are biosafety regulations norms in India? How has the industry done in terms of compliance to scientific protocol and guidelines?
India has moved with alacrity and the role of the private sector has been commendable in collaborating with the government and ensuring that we had one of the best science-based regulatory mechanisms in place.
The industry has diligently complied with all rules and regulations and followed the strict adherence to scientific protocols and procedures. It gives us tremendous satisfaction that owing to a robust partnership with the government and global standards pursued by the industry, no single case of biosafety infringement has been reported in the country. We must also acknowledge the credible public sector R&D which has given great momentum to the advancement of agriculture biotechnology in the country. In fact, our biosafety assessment of Bt Brinjal was one of the most detailed and diligent ever carried out.
Does India really need biotechnology when we have seen substantial year-on-year increase in agricultural productivity ?
Given the socio-economic and demographic transformation in the country coupled with challenges of climate change, mounting yields and food availability, we need to step up our efforts to better harness the potentials of modern biotechnology. This is critical for the future of the country, a fact reiterated by the Prime Minister?s Scientific Advisory Council recently.
It is time we consider the benefits to environment by biotechnology such as herbicide tolerant crops, drought-tolerant maize, salt-tolerant rice, nitrogen-efficient sorghum, improving existing plant sources for biomass for ethanol and biodiesel production, integrated pest management.