India bars entry of NGOs’ modified Corn-Soya Blend

Apprehensions were expressed by the government as there were reports that starlink corn had surfaced in food-aid shipments to Japan from US. Starlink corn is basically meant for cattle feed and is not cleared for human consumption, even in the US.

In a three-hour long meeting where the main agenda was to re-consider this proposal, detailed presentations were made by USAID, US Department of Agriculture and US EPA explaining their stringent regulatory mechanism. They came into the picture as the consignment had been held-over for almost a year putting their food-aid programme for India in jeopardy.

Their presentation also included the varieties of GM soya/corn approved for human consumption and animal consumption, names and addresses of all related organisations and arrangement for monitoring the health of beneficiaries.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), expressing serious reservation, cautioned on long-term exposure to starlink corn as well as absence of a mechanism for post-aid disbursement surveillance. They have been asking for a verification certificate for this particular shipment.