At least for the next few months, consumers in India will not know whether they are eating imported processed food that contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The country’s regulation on this has fallen into no-man’s-land. As reported by ‘The Indian Express’, the ministry of environment issued a notification exempting regulation on GM processed food in the country. Its rationale is that since GMOs cannot be replicated from a processed form, it is not an environmental issue. Health and safety aspects shall be regulated by the new authority to be formed under the Food Standards and Safety Act 2005. The authority is yet to see light of day after one year of the bill being passed. Sonu Jain lays out the issue

• What does the absence of a regulatory authority mean for GMO food?

GMO-containing food is becoming all-pervasive. In the WTO regime, it is important for countries to have their regulations in place if they care about consumer choice. A total of 51 countries have granted 539 regulatory approvals for various GM crops and GM food products since 1996 to 2006. The top ten countries with the most approvals granted are the US (77 approvals) followed by Japan (76), Canada (57), South Korea (46), Australia (40), Phillipines (36), Mexico (36), New Zealand (34), the EU (27), China (25).

In India, so far only Bt cotton has been cleared for commercial use. For all processed food, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) would regulate the imports before the notification.

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