Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84OCTOBER 2016 SEEDWORLD.COM / 73 says the Arusha protocol was designed to protect the interest of the multinational companies. He says the protocol did not involve farmers and the civil society organizations, “and we think that if this is for farmers, then they ought to be part in making decisions.” He stresses that the law is not protective of farmers. It must not be misunderstood to mean that “we do not want any law to regulate the industry, but we need to con- trol seeds produced locally,” Laate says, adding that they should not be forced to accept seeds from elsewhere. “We are educating farm- ers on the dangers of using genetically modified seeds,” he adds. According to Laate, many farmers were aware of the type of seeds presented to them. Source: Graphic Online. STATUS INDIA Opposing the government’s draft guidelines on BT cotton market, apex seed industry body NSAI says the existing PPVFR Act has adequate provisions to regulate the cotton seed market and other future technologies in the agriculture sector. In May, the Agriculture Ministry had issued a notifica- tion prescribing new guide- lines for licencing and royalty/ trait value fixation of BT cotton seeds. But later, the government withdrew the notification and turned it into a draft guide- lines to seek comments from stakeholders amid opposition from crop biotech industry. National Seed Association of India (NSAI) President M Prabhakar Rao says, “We have submitted our com- ments on draft guidelines to the government. We feel that there is no need for licencing agreement from the technol- ogy provider and even trait fee can be fixed by the plant protection authority.” The government’s draft proposes a new format for bilateral agreements while the existing signed pacts between licensors and licensees would become invalid. “We strongly believe that the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Act can very well take care of the proposed provisions of the draft licensing guidelines for BT cotton or any other future technology related to agriculture,” says Kalyan Goswami, NSAI executive director. If the PPVFR Act is followed, there would be no need to sign any licensing agreement with the technology provid- ers. Secondly, any breeder, researchers can access protected technology and developed their own variety/ hybrids, he says. “The developed material can also be commercialized paying royalty under PPVFR clause of benefit sharing,” he says, adding that this will curb monopolistic regime. The draft also proposed a cap on royalty for the new genetically modified traits at 10 percent of the maximum sale price of BT cotton seeds for the first five years. STATUS VIETNAM After three months of field trials which started in April 2016, Bt maize (MIR162) was harvested in Dak Lak and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provinces. After harvest, the seeds were destructed following the gov- ernment’s regulations. Representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other local agencies ensured that all biosafety guidelines in planting and harvesting GM crops under testing were followed. The trials were conducted by Syngenta Vietnam. On the other hand, Pioneer Hi-Bred Vietnam Company Ltd. and Agricultural Genetics Institute harvested Bt maize (MON810) from confined field trials at Van Giang Experimental Station, Lien Nghia commune, Van Giang district, Hung Yen province. Representatives from gov- ernment agencies and local organizations supervised the harvest including the Department of Biodiversity Conservation, Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Biosafety Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hung Yen Province, and the Division of Natural Resources and Environment. SW