Agri experts to evaluate Insect
Resistance Management on GM crops

GOVERNMENT officials met recently with the academic, scientific, government and private sectors to strengthen the implementation of Administrative Order No. 8 issued by the Department of Agriculture (DA), which covers the promotion of agricultural biotechnology products.

The order, issued in April 2002 by former Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor, covered the use of biotechnology products that have been proven safe for human consumption and are not destructive of the environment.

“The products of modern biotechnology cannot be enjoyed fully by the people unless uncertainties regarding their risks to human health and the environment are minimized and managed, if not eliminated,” the order read.

It was issued nearly a year after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a policy statement on biotechnology, declaring that the promotion of safe and responsible use of modern biotechnology and its products as “one of the several means to achieve and sustain food security, equitable access to health services, sustainable and safe environment and industry development.”

Scientists and agriculturists from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), DA-Biotechnology Program Implementation Unit (BPIU), Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP) and the GMA Corn Program met Friday at the National Seed Quality Control Services (NSQCS) in Quezon City and tackled issues related to the implementation of the Insect Resistance Management (IRM).

The GMA Corn is the banner program of the DA that deals with the corn industry.

During the meeting, the experts agreed to update the implementation and monitoring of the IRM protocol in the agriculture industry in relation to the commercialization of the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) corn.

BPI Director Clarito Baron told participants that a clear understanding of biotechnology is the key to the successful implementation of IRM. He added that pilot tests on the proposed bag-in-a-bag strategy of the IRM had been undertaken and results were positive.

“Safe biotechnology is the future,” Baron said. “Without it, hunger and poverty will continue to haunt future generations to come.”

He said the NSQCS is equipped with state-of-the-art biotech laboratories that facilitate advanced testing procedures based on reliable and efficient molecular techniques.

On the other hand, Director Alice Ilaga, head of the DA-BPIU said the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP) will regularly monitor the implementation of the IRM to ensure safe production and use of biotechnology products. “DA AO No. 8 clearly states that government and its implementing agencies should ensure that biotechnology crops will be safe for human consumption and harmless to the environment,” she added.

“We have been monitoring the commercialization conditions set by the DA for the developers of the Bt corn,” Wilma Cuaterno, head of the BPI Crop Protection Division said. “To date, we have achieved good coordination with government, industry and the stakeholders in the implementation of the IRM.”

Cuaterno added that the participants have agreed to share their latest scientific findings that will further enhance important factors in realizing the success of this endeavor.”

Recent development in the acceptability and commercialization of Bt corn in several regions in the country placed the Philippines as the 14^th biotechnology mega-country, along with the United States, Canada, Australia, Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico, Romania, India, Uruguay, South Africa, Argentina, Paraguay and China.