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Published on August 29, 2007

The Agriculture Ministry has said it would, at a later date, submit a proposal to the Surayud Cabinet to lift the ban on field trials of genetically modified organisms (GMO), which has been in force for the past six years. The ministry, which was earlier scheduled to table the proposal at yesterday's Cabinet meeting, withheld it without giving a reason why. Officials at the ministry insisted that Thailand, one of the world's major food producers, must restart field tests of genetically modified crops to keep up with advances in global research and to maintain the country's competitiveness.

If the Surayud government decides to scrap the earlier Cabinet resolution issued on April 3, 2001, by the then-Thaksin government to ban field tests of genetically modified crops, as requested by the ministry, government and private-sector researchers will be able to resume experimenting with and conducting field trials of papaya and other crops, such as palm oil and flowering plants.

The ban was imposed on the grounds that there was a lack of reliable measures in place to ensure bio-safety, and since then researchers have only been allowed to do research and development on genetically modified crops in closed environments or laboratories.

The 2001 ban followed a controversy over possible threats to bio-diversity and the environment after environmentalists and anti-GMO activists found that genetically modified papaya under field trials supervised by the Agriculture Ministry were also being grown by many farmers in surrounding areas.

It was suspected that seeds of genetically modified papaya were either stolen or were purposefully given to farmers. The growing of genetically modified papaya has since become widespread and has become popular among consumers who do not seem to worry about its impact on bio-diversity and the environment, or the long-term health effects on people who eat genetically modified food.

The Agriculture Ministry and the country's GMO research community are pushing for the resumption of field trials of genetically modified crops to ensure Thailand is well positioned to take advantage of the technology if and when the ongoing global debate on its virtues and drawbacks is settled in the favour of GMOs. This is not a totally unreasonable standpoint.

Genetically modified crops are now being farmed in 22 countries over a total area of 637.5 million rai and they are expanding fast, while their trading value is estimated at about US$6 billion (Bt203 billion) per year. Many genetically modified crops have already been sold in the market, including soybeans, corn, canola, cotton, potatoes and papaya. Developed countries like the United States, France, Australia, Canada, Spain and Germany, and developing countries like China, India, Argentina, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brazil, have embraced GMO technology.

Adding to the urgency of the GMO debate are the already evident effects of global warming and climate change, including flooding, drought, rising sea levels and natural disasters that have resulted in failed crops and lower yields, which pose a threat to global food security. Many experts believe that the world, particularly poor developing countries, needs another Green Revolution and that GMO technology will enable that to happen. While the GMO debate is not likely to be settled in the foreseeable future, Thailand should resume field trials of genetically modified crops but only with stringent safeguards in place to prevent genetically modified crops from contaminating the environment or crossbreeding with indigenous plant species and strains.

The Natural Resource and Environment Ministry is finalising draft legislation on bio-safety, which would ensure that the GMO research community and industry are well regulated and the environment and bio-diversity well protected. But the move to lift the ban must be made concurrently with enforcement of the bio-safety law.

In other words, the ban on field trials should not be lifted until the bio-safety law is put in place. Thailand should take a balanced approach by investing in research and development on GMOs, while at coming up with effective measures to prevent contamination in which scientists and the regulators both play crucial roles. Thailand can make advances in GMO research and development while at the same time preventing and mitigating any potential ill effects.