By Bong Garcia
A biotechnology expert of the Philippines Department of Agriculture
(DA) has assured consumers that all of the genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) - whether for food, feed or processing - approved for commercial
release are safe and pose no health risks to consumers.
DA-Biotech Advisory Team (DA-BAT) chief Dr. Saturnina Halos said the
GMOs have been proven scientifically to have no danger to the environment,
contrary to fears raised by environmentalists.

Halos said none of the 44 GMO products approved by the Bureau of Plant
Industry (BPI) since December 2002 has caused any ailment among the farmers
who planted them and the people who consumed them.

The first GMO to be approved for commercial release in the Philippines
in December 2002 was the pest-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn,
which is now cultivated all over the country.

Halos explained that all these GMOs were subjected to the most
rigorous science-based safety assessment by competent authorities and passed
all standards.

The Scientific Technical Review Panel (STRP), an independent
scientific body, also evaluated the GMO application aside from the safety
assessment by experts from the BPI and other regulatory agencies of the DA.

Halos said the same GMOs were subjected to the most stringent
bio-safety regulations to make sure that they are safe and would not have
any harmful effect to their intended users and the environment.

All GMO applications have to pass through a wringer comprised of
several layers of assessments from independent scientists, all of whom are
accorded the time to check on the organisms, report their findings and
subject the GMOs to repeated tests for toxicity and impact on indigenous
plants and animals.

Halos also defended the process by which the BPI approves the
application for the commercial release of GMOs and GMO products, explaining
that government has not rushed headlong into approving products that
eventually would threaten people and the environment.

She noted that the safety protocol followed by the Philippines
competes with the system operating in the European Union (EU), which has the
strictest scientific regulations as far as GMOs is concerned.

?All 44 GMO applications approved for commercial release in the
Philippines have undergone careful review by other scientific bodies and
equally competent authorities. They are as safe as their non-GMO
counterparts,? she said.

Halos added that the process of approval calls for public
consultations, from the initial evaluation of the technology to the testing
in greenhouses, then in individual field tests and then to testing in
multiple sites aside from the safety assessment by experts from the BPI and
STRP.

Thus, farmers, consumers, medical practitioners and critics are
accorded the opportunity to check on the GMOs, according to Halos.

?It is a very tedious process. The BPI also conduct consultation
meetings with various stakeholders and conducts a careful evaluation of the
issues and concerns raised during the consultation process,? she said.
[www.sunstar.com.ph]