COPIES OF THE FEEDBACK SENT TO THE MOEF BY EXPERTS
The following are some of the letters and articles that have been sent to the Minister for Environment & Forests, in response to his call on October 15th 2009 for public feedback on Bt Brinjal and the EC2 report/clearance of this GMO in India.
Bt brinjal’s biosafety dossier submitted by the crop developer is available at:
http://moef.nic.in/divisions/csurv/geac/bt_brinjal.html
Minutes of the Expert Committee I on Bt brinjal are available at the following link (Minutes of the second meeting of the Expert Committee on Bt brinjal held on 3.07.2007): http://moef.nic.in/divisions/csurv/geac/information.html in addition to the report of Expert Committee II (ECII) at www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Report%2520on%2520Bt%2520brinjal.pdf
FROM INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS:
1. Prof Gilles-Eric Seralini, University of Caen, France; a second version sent in January 2010 is available here.
2. Prof Jack Heinemann, Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety, University of Canterbury, New Zealand : Part 1 and Part 2
3. Prof David Schubert, Cellular Neurobiology Lab, The Salk Institute of Biological Studies, USA
4. Dr David A. Andow, University of Minnesota, USA’s “The Scope and Adequacy of the GEAC environmental risk assessment of Bt brinjal”
5. Dr Mae-Wan Ho, Institute of Science in Society (ISIS), UK: Farmers suicides & Bt cotton in India and On Mealy Bugs-the unfolding disaster on Bt Cotton
6. Jeffrey Smith, Director, Institute for Responsible Technology, USA
7. Dr Arpad Pusztai who re-submitted his 2007 Affidavit to the SC to the Minister due to ill health reasons.
8. Dr Doug-Gurian Sherman, Union of Concerned Scientists, USA on Bt Brinjal gene flow assessment. A second letter on January 15th 2010.
9. Dr Joël Spiroux de Vendômois, Environmental Health expert, CRIIGEN, France, on Bt Brinjal’s potential effects on health.
10. Prof Judy Carman, Epidemiologist, Institute of Health & Environmental Research, Australia
11. Dr Lou Gallagher’s (New Zealand) Review of 90-day Subchronic Oral Toxicity in Rats:
FROM INDIA:
1. From Dr Pushpa M Bhargava, Supreme Court Nominee to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee
2. From Dr K S Varaprasad and Dr N Sivaraj, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources on Brinjal Diversity & Gene Flow
3. From anonymous biologist, on Bt toxin and on whether insect cells (Spodoptera frugiperda) are human-like or non-human like, with an accompanying scientific paper
4. Dr Sridevi Seetharam, on “Should the Bt Brinjal controversy concern healthcare professionals and bio-ethicists”, in Indian Journal of Medical Ethics
5. From Dr Claude Alvares, Organic Farming Association of India: On contamination of native cultivars, impact on biodiversity, Appropriation and Privatisation of native cultivated varieties, Resistance to Bt crops, Impact on soils, Human safety trials, Lack of need for Bt Brinjal, Availability of better alternatives etc.
6. From Dr G V Ramanjaneyulu, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (Ph D, Agriculture Extension); Usha Kumari, Thanal (M Sc Horticulture); Kapil Shah, Jatan Trust (M Sc Plant Breeding) and Satish Natarajan, Sahaja Samruddha (Organic Farmer): On environmental risk assessment of Bt Brinjal, on (lack of) relevance of the technology, On (lack of) transparent and accountable regulatory systems and on socio-economic impacts
7. From Kavitha Kuruganti, Kheti Virasat Mission: on the objectionable and unacceptable constitution of the EC2, some general points about Bt Brinjal evaluation, specific responses to EC2 report and on issues beyond biosafety, including questions on the need for Bt Brinjal; for annexures, click here.
8. FromDr Sagari Ramdas, Director, ANTHRA: On no proof of safety regarding impacts of Cry1Ac, Bt Cotton and Bt Brinjal on animal deaths/illnesses; she also elaborates her point with this summary of tests done on Bt Cotton plant samples and animal tissues that died after grazing on Bt Cotton.
9. From Sreedevi Lakshmi Kutty, concerned and aware citizen from Mumbai: On general objections to the reductionist and one-dimensional acceptance of GMOs, on issues with regulatory decision-making and specific objections to EC2 report
10. From Dr V T Sundaramurthy, Entomologist and Formerly, Project Coordinator and Head, All India Cotton Coordinated Improvement Project, CICR: Does Brinjal need an alien gene?
11. From Aruljothi Mariappan, Ph.D scholar, Bacterial Genetics, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin; Mahesh P P, Ph.D Scholar, Mycobacteria Research Group, Molecular Microbiology, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram; Dr Sundaramurthy Thimmaiah, Agriculture Scientist & Environmentalist, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu; Rajasekaran M., Graduate Student, International Organic Agriculture, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany; Krishna Kumar,Ph.D scholar, Institute for Neuro and Bioinformatics, University of Luebeck, Germany; Yuvasenthilkumar Ramalingam, Master in International Organic Agriculture, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore: combined response from all the six.
12. FromCapt. Jai Narain Nishad, former Environment Minister, GoI
13. From Anupam Paul, Agriculture Scientist and Member, SATSA (West Bengal State Agriculture Technologists and Scientists Association)
14. From Concerned Health Professionals for Biosafety in Food, Gujarat
15. From Concerned Organisations and Institutions in West Bengal – on a Ban on the release of Bt Brinjal to save our farmers and consumers
16. Dr. Johannes Manjrekar, Microbiology Department and Biotechnology Centre, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
17. From Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti
18. From Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN), on GM food not being the answer to climate change-induced crisis
19. From Aruna Rodrigues, Sunray Harvesters and lead petitioner in the Supreme Court Public Interest Litigation on GMOs in India
20. From Bharat Mansata, Earthcare Publishers in his booklet called “Pregnant with Poison”
21. From Saraswati Kavula, a farmer and a film maker from Andhra Pradesh
22. From Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems on ICAR’s (Indian Council for Agricultural Research) validation of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) practices for controlling FSB in Brinjal.
23. From Dilnavaz Variava, formerly Chief Executive of WWF-India
24. From Dr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, former Union Minister and Member of Parliament, asking for the withdrawal of the EC2 report
25. From Mr Ninong Ering, Dilnavaz VariavaMember of Parliament and Member, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment & Forests
26. From Dr Lakshmi Nilakantan, a statistician’s note on Bt Brinjal biosafety analysis
27. From Mysore Grahakara Parishat, on consumer rights, labelling, regulatory issues etc.
28. From Prof K P Prabhakaran Nair, a soil scientist with his open letter published in the Indian Express
29. From Kabir Cariappa, a young organic farmer from Mysore, Karnataka
30. From Environment Support Group, Bangalore, on the violations of Biological Diversity Act mandate and responsibility
31. From the South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movements (SICCFM)
32. From Tejal V and Vishweshwar Madhav, concerned citizens in Mumbai (three submissions in the zipped folder)
33. From Jayant Chaudhary, RLD Member of Parliament