The Philippines could lose critical progress in the development of two flagship genetically engineered (GE) crops after a court ruling that suspended their commercial release is still under evaluation, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In a Dec. 1 report, the USDA noted that the Supreme Court (SC) is still reviewing an initial decision by the Court of Appeals (CA) that halted the development of both golden rice and Bt eggplant.

In April of last year, the CA issued a Writ of Kalikasan to revoke the biosafety permit for the commercial propagation of golden rice and to cease and desist activities relating to Bt eggplant.

Golden rice, registered in 2022 as Rc 682GR2E or Malusog 1, is a beta-carotene–enriched rice that aims to reduce vitamin A deficiency.

Bt eggplant, which was granted a permit also in 2022, contains a natural protein from a soil bacterium engineered to resist the eggplant fruit and shoot borer, a pest that mainly affects eggplants.

The Writ of Kalikasan to halt the development of these GE crops was issued after the appellate court cited a lack of “full scientific certainty” on their effects on the environment.

A Writ of Kalikasan is a legal remedy aimed at protecting one’s constitutional right to a healthy environment.

The CA ruling is still in effect, while awaiting the result of the SC’s review on the matter.

Meanwhile, the USDA noted that the development of golden rice and Bt eggplant is essentially in limbo, as even government projects that aim to support their deployment have also been halted.

The foreign agency also said that while there are currently no trade barriers related to biotechnology in the country, some local government policies run contrary to the development of GE crops.

It cited bans on GE propagation in Bohol, Mindoro, Benguet, and Negros Occidental.

These legal hurdles could put the country’s biotechnology efforts into question, despite it being the first in Southeast Asia to have a regulatory framework on GE crops.

The Philippines has so far approved 225 GE events, or genetic modification cases, for food, feed, processing, and planting, alongside five gene-edited crops.

Despite legal setbacks on other GE crops, the USDA noted that GE corn continues to expand in the country. The crop has grown to 741,000 hectares (ha) as of February, up from 10,769 ha more than two decades ago.

Bt cotton, which was approved two years ago, has also shown that it can yield up to three metric tons (MT) per ha compared to one to two tons for local varieties.

Under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023–2028, GE crops are cited as one of the “advanced and emerging technologies” the government believes is necessary to increase the nutritional content of food products.

Source - https://mb.com.ph