Monsanto, Greenpeace clash over GM brinjal safety in India

The MNC's seed partner doesn't want details of its safety test in the public domain.

A case filed in the Delhi High Court will decide the fate of exclusive data shared by companies with the government. Companies, especially those in the pharmaceutical and agri-chemicals businesses, don't want such data to be made public in order to protect their commercial interests.

Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco), the seed partner of multinational agro-biotech major Monsanto Corporation, has moved the Delhi High Court against a Central Information Commission order seeking details of the safety test data generated during clinical trials of its genetically modified (GM) brinjal, the first GM edible crop to be introduced in India.

Mahyco had submitted the data with the department of biotechnology for regulatory clearances. Divya Raghunandan, a representative of global environmental watchdog Greenpeace, had sought this information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The department turned down the plea on the grounds that the information sought by Greenpeace included "commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party".

Overruling the department, the Central Information Commission found merit in the Greenpeace argument that the data were not meant for commercial purposes and was sought to ascertain the risks that transgenic crops pose, particularly when open air field trials are being conducted in several places across the country.

Mahyco has gone to court to keep the data from being put out in the public domain. In its petition, it has also said that the Central Information Commission's order violates the obligations of India under the Trade- Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement of the World Trade Organisation.

The Delhi High Court passed an interim order in December 2007 staying the order till the next hearing of the case on April 23.

Some activists have thrown in their lot with Greenpeace. "The RTI Act clearly overrules any other rule that provides 'data protection' if the public authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information," RTI activist Prashant Bhushan said.

However, the department of biotechnology has said that the regulatory clearance for conducting trials of Mahyco's brinjal was given after proper scrutiny and they pose no public health hazards.

Greenpeace has obtained similar data on Monsanto's genetically modified insect resistant maize in Europe through a court order. The Monsanto data, when independently evaluated, had given rise to conclusions that were contradictory to Monsanto's observations.

Armed with the new data, the international NGO had launched a campaign, though not with much success, to see that the marketing approval given to the particular maize variety (MON 863) in Europe was withdrawn. Greenpeace is looking at the possibilities of a similar review of the data generated by Mahyco for its brinjal variety..