The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for the government to release the genetically modified (GM) crop, Bt Brinjal, in the country.
Following a petition filed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, chamber judge of the apex court, stayed a High Court order that barred the release of the brinjal for eight weeks.
Following a writ petition, an HC bench on September 29 ordered the government not to free the crop until an independent research, based on the standards of Codex Alimentarius Commission, is conducted.
In 1963, the commission was constituted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation to determine standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods and food production and safety.
Bt Brinjal is infused with pest-resistant genes that will see a drastic fall in the use of harmful pesticides, said scientists who have developed the crop at BARI.
Additional Attorney General Momtajuddin Fakir said there is no legal bar to freeing the variety.
On July 15, BARI applied to the National Technical Committee for Crop Biotechnology (NTCCB), asking to release the brinjal commercially, and the NTCCB referred it to its expert committee for review.
-With The Daily Star input
