CropLife, PSIA, ISAA voice concerns over moratorium on GM crops
Margust Dela Cerna | August 19, 2024
CropLife Philippines joined the Philippine Seed Industry Association (PSIA), and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) Inc., in expressing their concern over the moratorium imposed by the Court of Appeals in Manila on breakthrough crop technologies Golden Rice and Bt eggplant.
Particularly, the groups cited the setback of the court decision which orders a halt on the the review and approval of new and pending applications for contained use, field testing, direct use as food or feed processing, commercial propagation, and importation of all biotechnology-derived products such as genetically modified (GM) crops.
“GM crops are some of the most heavily studied and regulated products. Since becoming available globally in the 1990s, not a single food safety or health issue associated with GM crop use has ever been recorded. It also takes a long time to develop, test, and approve a GM product before it is sold or imported, lasting approximately 16 years and costing more than a hundred million dollars of investments. Thus, delays and uncertainty pertaining to halting the processing of key GM seeds and technologies are costly for seed technology developers and the entire value chain partners that depend on it (farmers, feed millers, etc.),” they explained in their position.
“The impact of the Court of Appeals decision goes beyond growers and national farm production. It is also worth noting that the country relies on the importation of various GM commodities, such as corn, canola, and soybean, critical macro-ingredients for the local livestock and poultry industry.
Ultimately, the impact of the decision will be felt in every dinner table of Filipino families and livelihoods of local growers. With food prices already high, it’s clear that all this will further drive food inflation higher. This also deprives growers with critical farming inputs and sustainable solutions needed to grow our food and support our food systems,” the group said. They stressed that it is imperative to recognize the role of biotechnology in agriculture as the world faces the threats of pandemic, national food security and climate change issues which call for sustainable solutions.
Particularly, the groups cited the setback of the court decision which orders a halt on the the review and approval of new and pending applications for contained use, field testing, direct use as food or feed processing, commercial propagation, and importation of all biotechnology-derived products such as genetically modified (GM) crops.
“GM crops are some of the most heavily studied and regulated products. Since becoming available globally in the 1990s, not a single food safety or health issue associated with GM crop use has ever been recorded. It also takes a long time to develop, test, and approve a GM product before it is sold or imported, lasting approximately 16 years and costing more than a hundred million dollars of investments. Thus, delays and uncertainty pertaining to halting the processing of key GM seeds and technologies are costly for seed technology developers and the entire value chain partners that depend on it (farmers, feed millers, etc.),” they explained in their position.
“The impact of the Court of Appeals decision goes beyond growers and national farm production. It is also worth noting that the country relies on the importation of various GM commodities, such as corn, canola, and soybean, critical macro-ingredients for the local livestock and poultry industry.
Ultimately, the impact of the decision will be felt in every dinner table of Filipino families and livelihoods of local growers. With food prices already high, it’s clear that all this will further drive food inflation higher. This also deprives growers with critical farming inputs and sustainable solutions needed to grow our food and support our food systems,” the group said. They stressed that it is imperative to recognize the role of biotechnology in agriculture as the world faces the threats of pandemic, national food security and climate change issues which call for sustainable solutions.
