The Sectorial Regulations for Biosafety of GMOs for Agriculture, Forestry, and their Derive Products were approved and published as Supreme Decree No 003-2011-AG and signed by the President and by the Minister of Agriculture of Peru on April 14, 2011. The Regulations was written and subjected to public discussion, and amended accordingly some two years ago. However, the opposition of the Ministry of the Environment fostered a moratorium on the approval of GMOs which delayed approval.

The approved regulations will allow the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA) of the Ministry of Agriculture to exercise powers of regulation, risk analysis and monitoring on applications for agro-GM field testing and production in Peru. At present, a GM sterile potato variety with resistance to the Andean moth has been developed in Peru by the International Potato Center, and INIA is in the process of developing a local GM papaya variety resistant to a local viral strain. Peru is also developing a National Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and Forestry as a research and service institution. 

Decree DS 003-2011-AG and the full text of the Regulation and its Annexes I and II (in Spanish) are accessible at http://www.inia.gob.pe/eventos/evento0694/default.htm.

For more news on biotech in Peru, email Dr. Alexander Grobman at alexander.grobman@gmail.com or Dr. Javier Verastegui at verastegui.javier@gmail.com.