April 2, 2007

Philippine agency says Monsanto GM corn safe
 

The Philippine agency responsible for imported bio-engineered crops assured Filipino consumers that the country's genetically modified corn called MON863 is safe for human and animal consumption, reports the Business Mirror daily.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) said that the genetically-modified (GM) crop released by Monsanto Philippines has passed rigid tests before it was commercialized.

BPI officer-in-charge Joel Rudinas said corn MON863 has undergone a process of scientific and technical assessment under DA AO8 as the crop examined thoroughly by an independent team of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) and parallel examination done by technical personnel of the Bureau of Agriculture, Fisheries and Product Standards (BAFPS) for food safety and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) for feed safety.

Rudinas said in a statement that it approved the GMO "for direct use as food or feed and for processing" on October 7, 2003 based on a stringent regulatory process and guidelines laid down by international standards such as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, Codex Alimentarius and International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).

Rudinas' reply was in reaction to a report released by environmental watchdog Greenpeace that Monsanto's Bt corn variant was unsafe for human consumption.

Greenpeace claimed the corn strain showed signs of toxicity based on a study undertaken by a panel of three independent scientists in France. The study, said Greenpeace, showed that laboratory rats fed with the GMO corn Monsanto (MON) 863 YieldGard Rootworm displayed kidney and liver toxicity.

MON 863 is corn genetically manipulated to produce its own insecticide called "modified Cry3Bb1" to kill rootworm insects in the soil, and contains gene coding for antibiotic resistance.

Should the MON863 present GMO risks, Rudinas said the government will immediately revoke the permit it issued to Monsanto.  The BPI is set to revisit the risk assessment for MON863 upon the order of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.