Golden Rice moves forward

MANILA, Philippines — The controversial Golden Rice, which is still being pushed in the Philippines, is slowly progressing after the government gave the green light for the conduct of public consultations on the proposed field trials.

The Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Plant Industry gave the go signal for the consultation which is a significant component of biosafety regulatory approval under a joint circular issued in 2016.

“The consultation process is comprised of public information sheet postings in accessible community locations, a 30-day public comment period, and the public hearing,” the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said.

“This provides community members with the opportunity to participate responsibly in a critical biosafety decision-making process,” it added.

The public consultation will be on July 18 in Muñoz in Nueva Ecija and July 20 in San Mateo in Isabela.

Two months ago, Golden Rice got a positive evaluation from the United States Food and Drug Administration concurring the variety’s safety and nutrition.

IRRI said the provitamin-A biofortified rice variety has completed its food safety evaluation from the USFDA, its third international nod after approvals from the Food Standards Australia New Zealand and Health Canada earlier this year.

The Philippines, through the Philippine Rice Research Institute, continues to develop high-yielding inbred local rice varieties with the beta-carotene producing GR2E Golden Rice trait.

Golden Rice is currently undergoing review for field trial and food, feed, and/or processing applications in the country.

It aims to address vitamin A deficiency which remains a persistent public health issue in the country.

Golden Rice is intended as a complementary, food-based solution to existing nutritional interventions, such as diet diversification and oral supplementation.

It achieves this by providing 30 to 50 percent of the estimated average requirement for Vitamin A of women and children.