BPI scored over modified corn variety

The Philippine Greens Institute (PGI) is questioning the "arbitrary approval" by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the commercialization of the country’s third genetically modified corn variety, the stack-trait corn developed by multinational seed producer Monsanto.

"We challenge the BPI to call for independent research and risk assessment that will present evidences that the stack-trait corn variety poses no potential hazards to health and the environment," said PGI leader Obet Verzola.

Verzola said that even the National Committee on Biosafety (NCBP) of the Philippines which conducts an independent review of genetically modified (GMO) products which the private sector companies want to commercialize, were surprised by the swift approval of the commercialization of stack-trait corn.

"There is a lack of transparency in the decision," Verzola said.

NCBP earlier issued a request to BPI and other regulatory agencies involved in approving the commercial releases and importation of GMOs to inform the NCBP about the status of the applications received by their respective offices.

The stack-trait corn variety is a combination of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene or Cry1ab and Round-up Ready gene.

PGI criticized Monsanto for its "patent stacking" practices, since both genes and a number of other genes and gene sequences involved in the development of the product are patented by the same company.

Verzola also chided BPI for being "negligent of its duty to evaluate the potential hazards of the new GMO corn product."

He pointed out that the presence of glyphosate, a non-selective herbicide, have been the subject of a number of scientific and technical studies and found this to be toxic to human placental cells within 18 hours, at concentrations lower than recommended agricultural use.

He cited an article published by the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) which revealed that the stability of the transgene insert in a GMO is above all a safety issue.

Stack-trait corn was developed by Monsanto and was first commercialized in the US. The BPI approved its commercialization in the Philippines in Aug. 2005.