But whether they can be cultivated in the country or not depends on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
The corn varieties include BT11 and MIR62 of Syngenta Vietnam Co. Ltd., and MON 89034 and NK603 of Dekalb Vietnam Co. Ltd. under Monsanto Group.
However, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment still has not granted Certificates of Biosafety for these GM corns for mass cultivation.
Earlier this year, the agriculture ministry sought the Government’s approval for test-cultivation of GM corn in six provinces – Son La, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Dak Lak, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Thap, after the two companies successfully completed the evaluation of the effects of GM corn on biodiversity and the environment.
However, the Government Office asked the agriculture ministry to wait for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s biosafety certification to conduct mass cultivation.
The agriculture ministry wants to plant GM corn en masse due to a steady jump of maize imports in the past few years. Vietnam imported 2.62 million tons of corn worth US$681 million in the first seven months of the year, up 2.4 times in volume and 1.9 times in value over the same period last year.
In reality, many firms began to import GM produce such as corn and soybean for manufacturing animal feed and foodstuff years ago though Vietnam has recently allowed importing the materials to produce food.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
