Misleading the public on safety of genetically modified crops or organisms without scientific evidence would not be made a punishable offence, the government has decided following concerns raised by some scientists and civil society groups.
A relevant clause to this effect in the proposed Bill to set up the National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority has been dropped, government sources have told The Indian Express.
The NBRA is being established to approve and regulate the use of biotechnology products in the country.
The proposed draft bill had a clause which made it a public offence to spread misinformation about the safety of a genetically modified product once scientific evidence had declared it to be safe. This was done to discourage interested groups and frivolous activists from spreading wrong information about biotech products.
The provision had come in for severe criticism by scientists and activist groups who saw a potential for misuse.
“In deference to the views expressed by a number of people, the government has decided to drop this provision for the time being,” a senior government official said.
The NBRA Bill is being drafted by the Department of Biotechnology. The Bill is likely to be put before the Cabinet for approval in the next couple of weeks with the aim to introduce it in the current session of Parliament once it reconvenes after recess.
The proposal for setting up the NBRA has been pending for a long time but the issue has acquired urgency in the wake of the controversy surrounding the decision of the Environment Ministry to put the introduction of genetically modified Bt brinjal on indefinite hold despite a green signal from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC).
As of now, the GEAC is the only authorised body to approve the use of a genetically engineered crop or organism. It will cease to exist once the proposed NBRA comes into being.
The latest draft of the Bill also seeks to put the NBRA under the administrative control of an inter-ministerial advisory committee and not under the Department of Biotechnology as was being envisioned earlier. This has been done to mollify the Environment Ministry which wanted the control of NBRA, arguing that there was a potential conflict of interest scenario placing the authority under the DBT, whose mandate is to promote biotechnology.
The inter-ministerial committee can comprise senior officials from all the relevant ministries including those from Environment, Science and Technology, Health, Agriculture and Commerce.