 "Rajasthan High Court halts FSSAI approval for GM food sale and imports")
In a significant development, the Rajasthan High Court, in an order passed a few days ago, has restrained the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Environment Ministry’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) from granting permission for the sale, manufacture, distribution, or import of genetically modified (GM) food until regulations are framed to govern such items.
India has been regularly importing soya oil produced from genetically modified seeds grown in Brazil, Argentina, and, of late, China. However, the argument has been that as oil is extracted from beans, it does not contain proteins and hence is not categorised as an LMO or Living Modified Organism. In the 2024–25 edible oil year ending in October, India imported close to 14 million tonnes of edible oils, of which 4.4 million tonnes was soybean oil.
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court also directed the FSSAI and the Centre to frame the requisite regulations governing GM foods or edible items under Section 22 of the Food Safety Act within six months.
Section 22 of the Act provides that, except in accordance with the regulations made under the Act, no one shall manufacture, distribute, sell, or import any GM food. The Rajasthan High Court’s division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjeet Purohit issued the directions.