Biotech Updates

Brazil, CTNBio Wins Biosafety Dispute

August 17, 2007

Anvisa, the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency, has conceded that the public consultation on the safety of genetically modified (GM) foods it issued earlier this month will only have a consultative value, intended to provide assistance to representatives of the Ministry of Health. This decision, taken during a meeting of the National Biosafety Council, establishes that Anvisa will not be able to extend its legal powers to regulate the commercial release of GM crops, a task that falls under the jurisdiction of CNTBio, Brazil's National Technical Commission for Biosafety. CNTBio is composed by members of 11 Ministries, including Agriculture, Environment and Health.  

Minister of Health José Gomes Temporão said that national agencies such as Anvisa and Ibama, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, have always participated in all stages of approval for a new crop.    

More information is available at: http://www.agenciabrasil.gov.br/noticias/2007/08/10/materia.2007-08-10.7612753426/view