Financial Times | By Edward Luce | 2 Jan 2003
India has rejected a large shipment of food aid from the United States
because it contained genetically modified food, the Financial Times has
learned.
The shipment of maize and soya - part of the US government's annual
$100m in food aid to parts of India that suffer from chronic
malnutrition - is thought to have contained bio-engineered content, say
Indian officials.
The US, which is appealing against the ruling in New Delhi, says it cannot
guarantee that any shipment of maize will be free of GM content, since GM
foods are regularly mixed with non-GM foods in the US.
If the US appeal is rejected, it could have negative implications for the
commercial development of GM crops in India.
Last year Zambia attracted strong criticism when it rejected international
food aid because it had GM content.
"We are not against GM foods per se," said A M Gokhale, chairman of the
Indian committee that rejected the consignment last year. "But if there is
reason to believe that there may be damage to human health, we have the
right to reject any import."
New Delhi's rejection of the food aid has deepened confusion about India's
stance on genetic modification. Last year New Delhi gave the green light
for
the introduction of BT cotton in India - its first approval of a GM crop.
However, since then the committee that determines India's GM policy has
regularly held up or postponed approval of other such crops, including
mustard.
Officials say there is strong political opposition to GM crops, which many
non-governmental organisations depict as a tool of multinational companies
to undermine India's farmers. In addition, there are fears some GM grains
cause allergies, such as skin rashes.
But Kameswara Rao, head of the Foundation for Biotechnology Awareness in
Bangalore, said the Indian government was more concerned about protecting
its own nascent GM sector than about fears over public health. "There is no
public health issue here - that is a red herring," said Mr Rao. "India is
developing its own GM variants and there are people on the government
committee who are funding the research."
The appeal over the US maize, which will be heard later this month, is
likely to provide a clear signal on whether India will in future accept
trade or aid imports that include GM content. It could also signal New
Delhi's willingness to take on political forces opposed to GM foods in
general.
Indian economists say the country badly needs another "green
revolution", in which new hybrids developed by scientists helped to
boost rice and wheat yields in the 1970s and 1980s and to make the
country self-sufficient in food.
Although India now has more than 60m tonnes in food stocks - about a
quarter
of the global total - its population growth is outstripping agricultural
yield growth for the first time in a generation.
Many government scientists believe GM crops are the answer to the country's
long-term food security. But senior officials say it will be difficult for
India to accept further food imports unless there is clear indication of
whether GM components are included.
"We have the right to look at each GM issue on a case-by-case basis," said
M.M. Verma, a senior official at India's department of environment. Roughly
a third of US corn output and three-quarters of its soyabean output is
bio-engineered.
