In this article we will discuss about the exchange procedures of transgenic plants in India.
Any transgenic material to be imported requires a permission which could be issued by the government after screening by the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM). RCGM examines the desirability of import of transgenic line, from the biosafety point of view under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. In accordance with this Act, all transgenic plants are regulated items.
Under the PFS Order (1989) which governs quarantine regulations, NBPGR has been designated as the competent authority to issue import permits for import of seeds by public and private sector agencies for research purpose. The provisions of the New Policy on Seed Development and PFS Order are applicable to import of transgenic seeds as well.
The Department of Biotechnology and the Ministry of Environment and Forest have separate set of prescribed procedures for providing permission for import of transgenic materials with the stipulation that all imports would be routed through NBPGR for national accessioning, quarantine clearance and distribution to the users.
Issuance of Import Permit for Transgenics:
With the enactment of New Policy on Seed Development, the Government of Indian made it obligatory for all plant breeders and researchers intending to import seed/planting material to fulfill two mandatory requirements, i.e.:
(i) Import Permit before importing any material,
(ii) Phytosanitary certificate from country of origin.
These two documents must accompany with every seed/plant consignment imported from abroad.
The Director, NBPGR has been authorised to issue Import Permit and receive imported materials from custom authorities for its quarantine inspection and clearance. The scientists/institutes desirous of importing the materials have to apply on a prescribed application form.
Before obtaining import permit the indentor should furnish the information and provide the undertaking as well as certificate from the supplier as per para 4 and 5 of the permission accorded by the DBT, from safety point of view.
The details of para 4 and 5 are given below:
Para No. 4:
1. No transgenic material is permitted for experimentation in open environment without prior authorisation from the Government of India.
2. Full account of transgenic plants raised from the imported seeds is to be kept in a bound book, which should be available for inspection by the authority in case such a need arises.
3. All transgenic materials prescribed by the indentors may be available for inspection, whenever required.
4. All the unwanted transgenic materials may be destroyed by burning after the experiments are conducted.
5. All precautions would be taken to prevent the escape of the genetic material into the open environment and shall follow the Recombinant DNA Safety Guidelines of the Government of India.
Para No. 5:
1. The supplier of the transgenic material shall certify that the transgenic has the genes as has been described in the permission.
2. The supplier shall also certify that these transgenic materials do not contain any embryogenesis deactivator gene sequence.
After fulfilling the above requirements, the Director, NBPGR issues the import permit in duplicate for research purpose only. After obtaining import permit the indentor sends it to the concerned organisation which has agreed to supply the required transgenic material for research purpose only.
The second mandatory requirement is that of Phytosanitary Certificate which is to be issued by the National Plant Protection Agency of the donor country. It should also be ensured that the consignment must be addressed to the Director, NBPGR, Pusa Campus, New Delhi.
Registration, National Accessioning and Import Quarantine:
All indents for import of transgenics are registered for assigning the case number and then forwarded to the Plant Quarantine (PQ) Division without opening along with Import Quarantine (IQ) form for detailed quarantine inspection and clearance.
After clearance from PQ Division, the samples are first arranged taxonomically indicating their genus, species, common name and cultivar name, etc., for national accessioning in the national record.
Each introduction/accession is assigned an EC (Exotic Collection) number which remains unchanged with information like name and address of donors, characteristics of the germplasm, relevant references, date of arrival, condition of the material and distribution of the materials. All assembled healthy plant material is regularly transmitted to the various researchers to make use of these valuable genetic resources.