December 16, 2015

 

Thai gov't says no to GMO bill

 

 

Six days after anti-GMO mounted a nationwide rally in protest against the Cabinet-approved Biological Safety Bill, Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha bowed to their demand, saying there was no pressing need for the bill.

 

The Bangkok Post reported that the Thai leader announced the decision after the Cabinet's meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

 

"Other countries use GM plants in the event of war or crop failure due to disease. This is because these plants can tolerate drought and disease and also have high yields, which will be useful in the event of war around the world," the General Prayut was quoted as saying.

 

Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd also said the controversial bill was dropped as Thailand had yet to reform its agricultural sector, and not due to the strong opposition from the ralliers.

 

The protesters demanded that the bill be not forwarded to the legislature until it is "improved".  They also claimed that it ran counter to Thailand's agriculture-development strategy and goal of sustainable and secure economic development.

 

Returned to environment ministry

 

Sansern said the cabinet returned the bill to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for review.

 

Kasemsun Chinnavaso, permanent secretary for natural resources and environment, said they would consider the views of all concerned parties.

 

Witoon Lienchamroon, director of Bio-diversity Sustainable Agriculture Food Sovereignty Action Thailand (BioThai), welcomed the Cabinet's decision on the bill, saying the government should instead do more research on organic agriculture.

 

 "I would like to see a broader legitimate body designed to protect our food supply sustainably by using safer technology based on organic farming. We have to move away from GMO because it is a danger to the environment and does not fit with global market demand", he was quoted as saying in a news report by The Nation.

Meanwhile, pro-GMO groups and individuals, including from the academe, called on the government to reconsider its decision to shelve the bill, since the country would be in the losing end in the long run.

 

Need for GMO law

 

Jessada Denduangboripa, a well-known scientist from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said Thailand needs a law on genetically modified organisms to control and regulate GM plants and microbes.

 

Shelving the bill would not help Thailand escape GMO plants since it already allows the importation of many GMO products and in fact grows some GMO plants, he said.

 

Pornsilp Patchrintanakul, president of the Thai Feed Mill Association, also stressed the necessity for Thailand to have a GMO law to regulate GM plant production and the importation of GM products.

 

"Thailand needs to look at why this law is necessary rather than say 'no' to it, because it would not lead to an influx of GMO products or plants. The NGOs were afraid, as many GMO products were already sold and grown in the country, such as papaya", he said, according to The Nation.