RP’s GMO rules cited as model for Asia

Philippine biosafety standards and regulations have been cited in several international fora as a model in the region for its science-based, transparent and responsive system. 

This was learned yesterday from Director Alice G. Ilaga, head of the Department of Agriculture’s Biotechnology Program Office (BPO), who assured the public that all genetically modified organisms (GMOs) approved for commercial release in the Philippines are safe.

“The professionals behind the biosafety regulations are people of impeccable reputation from the academe and scientific community and will not tolerate the entry of materials which will ruin Philippine agriculture,” Ilaga added.

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), an agency attached to the DA, remains the sole government agency responsible for the final approval or rejection of GMO applications for food, feed, processing or for propagation, Ilaga said.

She said parallel safety assessments are performed to make sure that a GMO crop being applied for commercial use is safe and poses no harmful effect to its intended users.

“Parallel safety assessments of every GM crop applied for commercial use are performed not only by several government regulators but by independent scientists and technical experts in the field of human, animal and environmental safety,” she added.

“This parallel safety assessment by internal and external reviewers, albeit quite stringent according to international best practices, is being resorted to, to ensure optimum product safety before any GM crop is commercialized,” she stressed.

Ilaga is defending the DA and  BPI which has been constrained by a lower court from publicly discussing the manner by which the office approves GMO application because of an ongoing case.

Earlier, Dr. Saturnina Halos, head of the DA Biotechnology Advisory Team, reaffirmed the safety of GMOs that have been approved for commercial release in the Philippines , saying they are safe and do not pose harmful effect to both man and the environment.

Halos said GMO applications pass through the  proverbial “eye of the needle” before being approved by the BPI. She said even anti-GMOs advocates are consulted, with some actively participating in the approval process.

She said all 44 GMOs approved for commercial release by the BPI were carefully evaluated by experts even after having been approved by equally competent regulatory bodies of other countries.