The Hindu : National : Centre accepts report of biotechnology task force

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 12, 2005

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National

Centre accepts report of biotechnology task force

By Our Special Correspondent

TASK ON HAND: Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman, MSSR Foundation, with the Tamil Nadu Governor, Surjit Singh Barnala, and the Director-General, International Food Policy Research Institute, Dr. Joachim von Braun, at the Foundation in Chennai on Friday. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI, MARCH 11. The Central Government has accepted the report of the Agricultural Biotechnology Task Force, M.S. Swaminathan, agriculture scientist and chairman of the Task Force, said here today.

In the report submitted to the Centre in May last, the Task Force recommended, among other things, that a national biotechnology regulatory authority (NBRA) be set up. It would have two arms, one for agricultural and food technology and the other for medical and pharmaceutical technology, Dr. Swaminathan told a three-day interdisciplinary dialogue on nanobiotechnology: implications on food, health and nutrition security organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.

Stating that the Union Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, had informed him of the Centre's decision, he said he hoped that the recommendations would be implemented this year. According to the report, the constitution of the regulatory authority would soon become necessary with rapid growth in research and development efforts in biotechnology. The authority would replace the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The structure of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board could be suitably adapted for establishing the NBRA.

The Task Force also suggested that evaluation of the field performance of genetically-modified crops be transparent. Unfavourable results should also be highlighted. Evaluation mechanisms should enjoy functional independence and high scientific and public credibility.

Addressing the participants, Joachim von Braun, Director-General of the International Food Policy Research Institute, which was also involved in organising the meet, stressed the importance of a coherent regulatory and deregulatory mechanism. "We have full integration of biotechnology with health and pharmaceutical systems, traditional and modern. But we do not have full integration of biotechnology with food and agricultural systems."

The Tamil Nadu Governor, Surjit Singh Barnala, who inaugurated the dialogue, said the challenge in the 21st century was to ensure that all countries had access to scientific innovations and discoveries that could raise incomes, reduce hunger, and improve nutrition. "If countries have policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks in place to support science and technology, they can increase agricultural productivity and stimulate economic growth."

The new fields of nanotechnology, genomics, bioinformatics and space applications would increase knowledge that could be shared and used to improve agricultural production, and protect ecosystem functions in developed and developing countries, Mr. Barnala added.

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