GM soyoil import rule delayed by 3 months

The government has deferred the implementation of guidelines laid down in the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09 for the import of genetically modified food, feed, organisms and living modified organisms, by three months.

In a notification today, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said the order is being "kept in abeyance" up to July 7, 2006.

The decision comes after representation from the edible oil industry seeking time to implement the new order, said industry members.

"We are happy that the government has agreed to give us this three month extension. We will prepare for the norms now," said Sandeep Bajoria, president of the Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade.

Commenting on this, the Solvent Extractors Association of India's (SEA) executive director B V Mehta said, "It is a new process and it will take time for the industry to get adjusted to the new procedures."

Earlier, in a clarification sought by the SEA, R Warrier, additional director with the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) said the import of soyoil, crude or refined, derived from genetically modified soybean must be declared as "genetically modified".

As per rules, since December 1989, the industry was required not to sell, import or use GM products without the approval of GEAC, under the ministry of environment and forests. The ministry of environment and forests had invoked that the Rules for the Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells, 1989 (Rules 1989) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Soyoil imports constitute about 35 per cent of the country's vegetable oil imports and are sourced from Brazil, Argentina and the US, where GM soybean seed produce abounds.

For getting the GEAC clearance on soyoil import, the importer is expected to furnish an analytical report of crude or refined soyoil from the country of origin; whether the imported degum oil is to be sold to dedicated refineries having state-of the art facilities or to local refiners; an analytical report of by product (as it may also contain GM material); method of disposal of the by-product; foods safety study conducted in the country of origin; and whether the consignment has been approved and is in commercial production in the country of origin.

Soyoil imports constitute about 35 per cent of the country's vegetable oil imports and are sourced from Brazil, Argentina and the US, where GM soybean seed produce abounds.

However, industry members feel that making labelling of products mandatory is likely to hit the organised sector rather than the unorganised one which does not deal with oil in packaged form.

Further, India neither has the technology nor infrastructure to work on the product's traceability and thus such a notification is ahead of the times.