Biotech Updates

Biotech Mustard is Safe, Says India's Technical Committee

September 7, 2016

The technical sub-committee of India's Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has said that biotech mustard (Dhara Mustard Hybrid 11 or DMH-11) does not "raise any public health or safety concerns for human beings or animals." The sub-committee evaluated the safety of the crop and released the Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES) report published in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) website for public comment from September 5 to October 5, 2016.

India's first biotech mustard hybrid DMH-11 was developed by the University of Delhi South Campus from 1996 to 2015. The project is the first public sector edible oil biotech crop developed with funding from the Department of Biotechnology of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) – the largest producer and supplier of milk, milk-based products, and the popular mustard edible oil Dhara in India.

Comments must be sent to MoEFCC through email in the prescribed format at mustard.mef@gov.in. The related documents, AFES, and proforma for comments are available at the MOEF&CC website.