[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 10:44:24 ICT 2014
Dear Colleagues,
This is for your information. Thanks chi Hoa - SRD for sharing this
information!
Best regards,
Thuha
Begin forwarded message:
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*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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