Manila, The Philippines
March 23, 2011
The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) awards crop biotech leader Monsanto permit to sell its latest biotech corn with engineered insect and weedicide resistance for cultivation of farmers in the country.
The traits, under event codes MON 89034 x NK603, are covered by permit number 11-004 which is effective for five years.
Photo shows BPI Director Clarito Barron handing over the approval certificate to Monsanto Regulatory Affairs Lead Gabriel Romero. Also in photo are other Monsanto officers (from R-L) Technology Development Lead John Fajardo, Corporate Affairs Lead Charina Ocampo and Regulatory Officers Ruby Sumague and Lee Gano
BPI Director, Clarito Barron handed the approval certificate to Monsanto represented by Regulatory Affairs Lead Gabriel Romero, Technology Development Lead John Fajardo, Corporate Affairs Lead Charina Ocampoand Regulatory Officers Ruby Sumague and Lee Gano.
Dir. Barron said he was pleased that the regulatory system was able to efficiently assess another corn biotech product, and that Monsanto has complied with all the necessary requirements attesting the product's biosafety. Dir. Barron also emphasized that BPI will always exert utmost efforts "to ensure that biotech crops allowed for cultivation in the country have undergone and passed sufficient evaluation by technical experts for the benefit of farmers and the general public."
The cultivation approval of MON 89034 x NK603 opens Philippine farms to the use of a new stack product combining 2nd generation Yield Gard (YG2) and Round-up Ready Corn (RRC2), with outstanding insect resistance and herbicide tolerance. The YG2 trait, conferred by bacterial Bt genes Cry1A.105 and Cry2Ab2, provides maximum protection against the Asian Corn Borer and good control against corn earworm and common cutworm. The RRC2 trait enables simpler and affordable weed control management through the use of RoundUp herbicide which kills weeds but not the biotech corn. Meantime, the introduction of YG2 corn to the fields will also enhance Insect Resistance Management for Bt corn hybrids and thereby extend longevity of the Bt corn technology. YG2RRC2 corn, also known as VTDouble Pro, is extensively grown in US, Brazil and South Africa to provide farmers higher and more stable yields.
Monsanto's new product, YG2RRC2, offers yet another biotech option through which farmers can produce more, conserve more, and improve their lives. Sales of YG2RRC2 in the Philippines will commence in May 2011. The approval of the said product came after rigorous regulated field trials for almost three years in several locations across the country and a thorough review of technical papers assessing its effectiveness and safety. Yield Gard 2 single had been granted cultivation approval on Nov 19, 2010 after a about two and a half years of thorough field testing and technical reviews. Two non-target organism(NTO) studies were also conducted from 2009 to 2010, which showed no adverse impact of MON 89034 on NTOs.
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