But activists are not too happy. Reacting to the new notification, Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign said: “This is introducing a new set of laxity in the system and violates our own laws.”

According to the new Food Safety and Standards Act, all genetically modified food need to have labels.

“This will mean that there will be no traceability and in case there is a problem, there is no way liability can be fixed. This is not desirable at all,” said Sahai. Though the US has been selling genetically modified food for nearly two decades now without labels, there have been stray cases of health hazards associated with processed GMOs.

The most well-known is the 1989 incident where a genetically engineered brand of L-tryptophan, a common dietary supplement, killed 37 Americans and permanently disabled or afflicted more than 5,000 others with a painful and potentially fatal blood disorder, eosinophilia myalgia syndrome (EMS), before it was recalled by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The manufacturer, Showa Denko, Japan’s third largest chemical company, has already paid out over $2 billion in damages to EMS victims.

The import of soya oil for humanitarian aid has led to some controversy in the past. It was finally approved after certification from the country of export that it has been derived from Roundup Ready Soybeans. In case of crude soybean oil, the importer was asked to submit a series of analytical reports from government-approved laboratories.

For now, the lengthy regulatory route will no longer be required to import soya oil to India.

... contd.