US objects to import norms for GM products

The US has lodged a strong protest against India's recent foreign trade regulations on import of GM products and has asked the Government to suspend them immediately.

The regulations announced in March and in effect since July, require that all GM imports get prior approval by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, a panel set up by the Environment Ministry.

The procedure requires declaration of all GM imports and this has sent US complaining to the World Trade Organisation's Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade.

''It is important that India suspend implementation of the proposed measure until we have worked together to understand and address its trade implications,'' it has written in a letter of objection in May.

However, the detailed guidelines for the regulations are not ready yet and hence the GM import regulations are not in force. A response has been sent to this effect from the Commerce Ministry, officials said. It has assured the US that the final detailed guidelines will seek comments from all concerned before being finalised.

The guidelines were to come into force on July 8 but for the delay from the part of Health Ministry in finalising the labelling guidelines for GM food.

The US, in its letter forwarded through the WTO committtee, has requested India to consider comments from WTO members in the context of its WTO obligations, ``in particular that any such measures should be least trade restrictive and based on sound science.''

The main concerns expressed by the US regarding the need to get prior GEAC approval for all GM products include the scope of the foreign trade regulation. It has asked the Government to give a list of the products which will be subjected to GM scanning.

It has asked if the Indian regulatory authorities will implement a testing regime in relation to the import regulation and has asked who will make the required declarations of GM content, the manufacturer, exporter, or the importer.

"The import regulation appears to require GEAC approval on a shipment by shipment basis. The basis for requiring individual GEAC clearances for shipments of the same product is unclear, as the dossier of safety information would be identical for each shipment" the letter says.

"We are concerned that the regulation's requirements are vague, and may be unnecessarily burdensome and costly. Neither the scope of products covered nor the implementation procedures are clear," it further says.