The committee met on Wednesday in Delhi for the first time after Union minister of environment and forests Jairam Ramesh announced a moratorium on release of the GM variety on February 09, 2010.
Around 30 scientists and experts on gene technology met to discuss further plans. "A majority of the scientists were for partial release of this technology and that no more further testing was required," GEAC co-chair Arjula Reddy told TOI.
Several of the participants felt sufficient long-term studies had been done and parallel testing could be conducted along with the partial release. The group will meet again next month before arriving at a recommendation.
Committee member and the Supreme Court's appointee PM Bhargava opposed the partial release. "Jairam Ramesh, in his moratorium note had said that the GEAC should consult experts to draw up a fresh protocol for specific tests to generate public confidence and that the GEAC should act on the matter of further studies and tests with appropriate protocols in appropriate laboratories. This wasn't in the agenda," he said. Read the full report here.
Source: Karthikeyan Hemalatha, TNN, Chennai.
