Not all GM decisions are taken in accordance with scientific principles. India, which has become a favoured destination for the biotechnology industry that is virtually on the run from the United States, European Union and Australia, is a case in point. Besides cotton, genetic engineering experiments are being conducted in India on maize, mustard, sugarcane, sorghum, pigeonpea, chickpea, rice, tomato, brinjal, potato, banana, papaya, cauliflower, oilseeds, castor, soybean and medicinal plants in. The developments in the area of legislation with regard to GM foods in other parts of the world reveal a different trend.
In March 2004, Western Australia became the first Australian state to ban outright planting of GM food crops. Within a few days of this decision, Victoria imposed a four year moratorium on the cultivation of GM oilseeds rape to 'protect its clean and green' image. South Australia and Tasmania have also banned GM crops. In the United States, Mendocino County of California became the country's first to ban the raising and keeping of genetically engineered crops or animals. In March, the state of Vermont, in a historic decision, voted overwhelmingly to support a bill to hold biotech corporations liable for unintended contamination of conventional or organic crops by genetically engineered plant materials.
The trend is the same across the ocean, in the United Kingdom. The dramatic turnaround by Bayer Crop Science to give up attempts to commercialise GM maize, has ensured that the country remains GM free till at least 2008. Despite Tony Blair's blind love for industry, tough GM regulatory regime has come in the way of the adoption of the technology. In Japan, consumer groups announced their intention to present a petition signed by over a million to Canada's Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister, Bob Speller. Japan is one of the biggest markets for Canadian wheat, and the petition calls for a ban on GE wheat in Canada.
In sharp contrast to what is happening in the developed North, in April, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) in India approved yet another Bt cotton variety for the central and southern regions amidst reports that the go-ahead came without adequate scientific testing. The approval also comes at a time when the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking public comment on petitions from Mycogen Seeds to deregulate two lines of genetically engineered insect-resistant cotton. APHIS is seeking public comment on whether these cotton lines pose a plant pest risk.