Voicing their concern over ‘unbridled’ field tests of genetically modified (GM) crops in the country, civil society groups have asked the government to immediately put in place a legal framework on liability and redress.
Claiming that the GM crops had put the nation at risk, the Coalition for GM-free India and Centre for Sustainable Agriculture said the firms introducing GM crops should be made liable for the damage their proprietary technology is causing to biodiversity.
The representatives of the groups were Tuesday addressing a press conference here on the sidelines of the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP MOP 6).
Delegates from 150 countries attending the five-day meet are discussing ways to ensure the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) and the implementation of Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress. LMOs are organisms that are genetically modified through the application of biotechnology.