Quezon City, The Philippines
September 7, 2007
Source:
Malaya Online via
SEAMEO SEARCA
A Quezon City court has stopped
the agriculture department and the Bureau of Plant Industry from
approving the application of the genetically modified rice Bayer
LL62.
The temporary restraining order issued by Judge Evangeline
Marigomen stops the government from considering the application
of the GMO rice pending the resolution of the petition for
injuction filed by environmental group Greenpeace.
Greenpeace filed a petition for injunction last August 23
questioning the lack of public public consultation on GMO
approvals by the DA and its attached agency.
The hearing for the preliminary injunction was set on Sept. 14.
Daniel Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Genetic Engineering
Campaigner Daniel Ocampo said, "Greenpeace believes that the
pending application of a genetically-altered rice to be used for
food, feed, and processing in our country is a very serious
issue of public concern. If the application is approved, the
entry of GMO rice in our country will irrevocably alter the
future of our most important staple food."
"We have filed the petition because we believe that this
application will put our rice under further control of greedy
corporate interests. With this petition we are reminding the DA
and the BPI to uphold their mandate to ensure that our rice
supply is safe both to the environment and human health."
The BPI has clarified that Bayer’s pending application was not
for the cultivation of the GMO rice variety LL62 but only for a
permit that would allow the entry of the GMO rice for "food,
feed and processing."
With an application for biosafety permit filed in August last
year, Bayer’s herbicide resistant rice variety has been approved
for cultivation in the United States.
If Bayer’s LL62 is approved, it will be the first
genetically-altered rice in the country.
According to Greenpeace, Bayer’s LL62 is a rice variety whose
DNA has been injected with genetic material from an entirely
different organism to resist glufosinate, a powerful weed killer
also produced by Bayer, which is meant to be used in conjunction
with the said crop.
As the application is being processed by a panel commissioned by
the BPI, Greenpeace claimed in its petition that there has been
no disclosure on the actual status of the application of Bayer.
The group also questioned the legality of the DA’s
Administrative Order 8, which it claimed does not require
"actual public consultation" as it only requires publication of
information on the application containing invitation to parties
to send written comments.
Greenpeace claimed that it has repeatedly requested the BPI for
official information on the application.
"The DA and the BPI, however, have been quiet, stating only that
it is under review and that Bayer has ‘complied’ with the
requirement to submit a PIS (Public Information Sheet) under DA
AO 8," the group said in a statement.
Add to this, the group also raised that there are inadequate
risk assessment studies on human health on the application for
the GMO rice. |
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