Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has granted
licenses to four genetically midified (GM) corn varieties to be used for
both human consumption and animal feed.

This process started four years ago when Vietnam announced it would start
field trials of these four varieties of GM corn. The varieties have gone
through extensive testing and evaluation since then, as well as being
approved by Vietnam's Council of Food Safety for Genetically Modified Food
and Animal Feed.

The four GM corn varieties, includes Bt 11 and MIR 62 developed by Syngenta
Vietnam Co., Ltd as well as MON 89034 and NK 603 by Monsanto's Dekalb
Vietnam Co., Ltd. The licensing agencies say they have determined to their
satisfaction that the products have no harmful health effects. Licensing is
considered a first step in the creation of a legal framework regarding GM
foods, and the Vietnamese government is in the process of speeding up the
application of such technologies in agriculture. This is in line with the
plan for sustainable agriculture through 2020.

[www.geneticliteracyproject.org] and
<[grains.org]
dified-corn-varieties> [grains.org]