[Ngo-sanrm] FW: [ge_free_asia] Vietnam; GM food production ban proposed

Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group ngo-sanrm at ngocentre.org.vn
Wed Aug 27 04:44:24 BST 2014


Dear Colleagues,

This is for your information. Thanks chi Hoa - SRD for sharing this 
information!

Best regards,
Thuha

Begin forwarded message:


    **

    *http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/110455/gm-food-production-ban-proposed.html*

    **

    *GM food production ban proposed*

    /VietNamNet Bridge – Government agencies have agreed on a proposed
    ban on the production of genetically-modified (GM) food as one of
    the business fields suggested for prohibition in draft amendments to
    the Investment Law and the Enterprise Law to be sent to the National
    Assembly at its eighth sitting later this year./

    Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has
    recently allowed using GM corn for food and is taking some final
    steps to realize mass cultivation.

    Nguyen Quoc Binh, deputy director of the HCMC Biotechnology Center,
    said Vietnam will go against the world’s scientific advancement if
    the country bans production of GM food.

    “GM crops are an astounding scientific achievement. Vietnam is
    developing toward the market-oriented economy but it is now
    considering imposing a ban on GM food production. In other words,
    the country could be left far behind the common development trend of
    the world,” Binh added.

    The ban on production of GM food will also go against the
    Biodiversity Law, certain decrees on food safety and GM animals, and
    the strategy for applying biotechnology to agriculture, said a
    senior executive of Dekalb Vietnam Company.

    Nguyen Ngoc De from College of Rural Development under Can Tho
    University said there are two movements with conflicting opinions
    about GM crops.

    The advocates led by the U.S. regard GM crops as a significant
    scientific development with an effort to address food security
    problems given the rising global population while the other movement
    mainly supported by the European Union is worried that these crops
    may pose a threat to human health.

    Vietnam has yet to legalize mass cultivation of GM crops but the
    country in fact has imported a large volume of GM food such as corn
    and soybean to make animal feed, De added.

    However, De was not actually in favor of growing GM crops, fearing
    that it would have a profound impact on the national export of
    agricultural products to certain countries that strongly oppose GM
    crops, especially the EU.

    Pham Van Quynh, director of Can Tho City’s Department of Agriculture
    and Rural Development, said further research should be done before
    legalizing GM crops.

    The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved the
    use of four strains of GM corn to produce food for humans and feed
    for livestock, including BT11 and MIR62 of Syngenta Vietnam Co.
    Ltd., and MON 89034 and NK603 of Dekalb Vietnam Co. Ltd. under
    Monsanto Group.

    However, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment still has
    not granted Certificates of Biosafety for these GM corns for mass
    cultivation.

    Over the past several years, scientists in Vietnam are divided into
    two groups. One is in favor of GM crops while the other wants the
    Government to exercise prudence.

    Despite a number of mixed opinions, the agriculture ministry still
    gave the nod to testing certain strains of GM corn and will
    facilitate mass cultivation in the coming time.

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