GMO and food safety: The Philippine perspective

Issue Date

6-2002

Abstract

Food security is a major concern in the Philippines where general, crop yields are lower and population growth is higher. While it recognizes that the use of transgenic crops with resistance to pests and diseases will contribute to self-sufficiency in important food crops in the country while protecting the environment because of the higher yields and reduced use of chemical pesticides, the adoption of the new technologies has been rather slow, where the use of GM crops is still limited to field trials. In fact, the Philippines has not been spared the anti-biotechnology sentiment where Bt corn field trials were destroyed by militant groups. The major concerns are related to the unknown long term effects related to GM foods, effects of GM crops on the environment and ethical questions related to genetic engineering. The Philippine government under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo however has taken a positive stand to modern biotechnology by approving a policy statement that it “shall promote the safe and responsible use of modern biotechnology and its products as one of several means to achieve and sustain food security, equitable access to health services, sustainable and safe environment and industry development”. It is taking steps to provide assurance that GM food is unlikely to have an adverse effect on human health through scientific data. At present however, only the economic assessment and adaptability or effectivity analysis have been undertaken. The risk assessment studies on biosafety and food/feed safety will have to be done.

Source or Periodical Title

Journal of the International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences

ISSN

0859-3132

Volume

8

Issue

2

Page

117

Document Type

Article

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Frequency

biannually

Language

English

En – AGROVOC descriptors

TRANSGENIC PLANTS; FOOD CROPS; FOOD SAFETY; BIOSAFETY; FOOD SECURITY; GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS; GENETIC ENGINEERING; PHILIPPINES

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