GENETIC
ENGINEERING APPRAISAL COMMITTEE (GEAC) - POLITY
News:
‘GEAC bypassing States’
right to take a call on GMO trials’: Activists
What's
in the news?
● Anti
Genetically-Modified Organism (GMO) activists have alleged that the Genetic
Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the premier Central regulator that
considers and decides on allowing or not allowing trials in genetic-engineering
trials in the country, is subverting States’ right to take a call on the issue.
Genetic
Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC):
● It
is a statutory committee constituted
under the “Rules for the Manufacture, Use/Import/Export and Storage of
Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells (Rules,
1989)” framed under the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986.
● It
was earlier called Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, which was changed to
Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee in the year 2010.
Nodal
Ministry:
● GEAC
functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Composition:
● GEAC
is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEF&CC and
co-chaired by a representative from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
● Presently,
it has 24 members and meets every
month to review the applications in the areas indicated above.
● The
members comprise experts from other ministries as well as institutions such as
the ICAR, ICMR, CCMB, and so on.
Functions:
● As
per Rules, 1989, it is responsible for the appraisal of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms
and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental
angle.
● The
committee is also responsible for appraisal of proposals relating to release of
genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the environment,
including experimental field trials.
● It
keeps a check on the use, import, and
export of genetically modified (GM) organisms and crops.
● GEAC
also has the power to prohibit the manufacture and use of certain recombinants
as they are hazardous for commercial use.