Government allows import of GM seed edible oil

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has lifted the ban on the import of edible oils extracted from genetically modified oilseeds. This was stated in a letter to State Trading Corporation and MMTC on Friday.

The move allows import licence holders, under the Duty-Free Entitlement Certificate (DFEC) scheme for Target Plus and Status Plus schemes, to freely import edible oil derived from GM oilseeds.

Director of Foreign Trade RS Gujaral, who was in Ahmedabad on Friday said, "The restriction on the import of edible oil sourced from GM oilseeds has been removed. Earlier, the importers had to declare that the oil was not sourced from GM oilseeds."

But it was difficult to trace whether the oil was sourced from  GM seeds. Seeing the increasing demand from exporters and the country's requirement of imported edible oils, the import had been relaxed, he added.

The freeing of edible oil import would come as a boon for hundreds of licence holders to import GM  oils. The licence would also plug the loopholes in the import norms, said B V Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors' Association of India.