June 14, 2005

Monsanto reconsiders GM corn production in Thailand
 

Due to lack of Thai government support, giant genetically modified (GM) crop developer, Monsanto, may pull out GM corn production in Thailand in favour of more supportive Asian countries like India and the Philippines.

The Thai government has banned open field trials and commercialisation of transgenic crops while the commercial planting of GM corn and cotton has been approved in India and the Philippines.

GM crops must pass three levels of bio-safety tests, which are laboratory, greenhouse and open field trials, before being approved for mass production.

According to Monsanto, they are considering expansion elsewhere because attempts over the past four years to convince the Thai public and government to embrace GM crops have been unsuccessful. It was also reported that efforts have failed due to strong opposition from farmers, environmentalists and consumer groups.