The Supreme Court ordered the government yesterday to make public all
data on genetically-modified (GM) crops that is relevant to environment and
safety, responding to activists seeking independent scientific scrutiny of
claimed results.
In a ruling on petitions filed by non-government organisations, the
court said all the relevant data on toxicity and allergenicity studies
conducted on laboratory animals should be made public by the Genetic
Engineering Advisory Committee (GEAC).

The GEAC is a government agency that approves GM crops for field
trials and commercial cultivation after evaluating the results of such
studies. But it has never made public details, such as design and analysis
of the studies on the animals.

Petitioners said they are still unsure what data will be released.

?We need fine details for independent scrutiny,? said Suman Sahai,
director of Gene Campaign, a research and advocacy organisation that had
filed a petition seeking transparency and strengthened regulatory mechanisms
to govern GM crops in India.

?We need data that will tell us how the animals responded, what were
the doses given, what measurements were done on the immune system, the
statistical analysis used,? she said. ?We still don?t know whether they?re
going to make this public.?

In response to an earlier request, Sahai said, the GEAC had merely
provided information about what animals were used in tests, where the
studies were conducted and the conclusions.

?It was a pretence of giving information without giving anything
useful at all,? Sahai said. ?We?re going to be on our guard that they don?t
do the same thing again.?

In the past, GM crop companies and the department of biotechnology
have argued that research data is ?proprietary and confidential? and its
public release was likely to ?harm the competitive advantage? of the
companies.

?We have in place independent regulatory systems for evaluation of
such data,? biotechnology secretary M.K. Bhan said. ?Whatever data is
available will be made public,? he had said yesterday, when asked whether
the department would support the release of the data.

The clamour for independent examination of safety data has grown in
the past two years after data submitted to European regulators by an
international company was found by independent scientists to have adopted
inappropriate statistical methods to draw favourable conclusions about GM
crops.

?All we?re asking for is a transparent system where any qualified
scientist can have a look at how the animals responded,? said Jai Shankar,
an activist with Greenpeace India, which has also been trying to access
safety data from the government.

Greenpeace activists have pointed out that several countries have
adopted a cautious approach on genetically engineered crops.

[www.checkbiotech.org]