ISAAA pushes law to protect biotech crops

MANILA, Philippines – The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications Inc. (ISAAA) is pushing for a law to protect biotechnology products and prevent court cases from delaying the use of government-approved biotech crops.

“Our dream is to have a law that will provide protection so that once a biotech product has a permit, it can be used by our farmers. We want to protect the hard work of our scientists because our farmers and consumers need this,” Kristine Grace Tome, manager of ISAAA’s Global Knowledge Center on Biotechnology, said on Tuesday.

READ: Gov’t told: Genetically modified crops to feed population

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She said legal challenges often suspend commercial use despite regulatory approval.

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“If you have a permit from the government… the commercial use is put on hold when, for example, there is a writ of kalikasan. It’s like we have a permit but we cannot use it because there is a pending case,” Tome said on the sidelines of an ISAAA event in Quezon City.

ISAAA said farmers planted 117 hectares of Golden Rice, locally known as Malusog Rice, across 18 provinces in 2023. The Philippine Rice Research Institute, in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute, developed Golden Rice as the country’s first genetically modified rice variety for improved nutrition.

The government approved the commercial cultivation of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant in 2022, followed by large-scale seed multiplication in 2023. However, the Supreme Court issued a writ of kalikasan in 2024, halting the commercial release of genetically modified rice and eggplant over environmental concerns. The Philippines also grows genetically modified maize and Bt cotton.

Meanwhile, Tome said ISAAA is discussing the proposal with lawmakers as an introductory measure to build public support for biotech products. She added that the group also hopes it will further speed up regulatory approvals.

“Compared to our former regulations, it (approvals) used to take much longer because in the past, it often took years. Now, it has become faster because we have the Ease of Doing Business Law, so the process is speeding up, and hopefully soon, the permitting process will further improve,” she told reporters. permitting process will further improve,” she told reporters.

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