The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Stopping those ‘invisible’ germs at the border

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Saturday, Jun 16, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Stopping those ‘invisible’ germs at the border

Staff Reporter

Customs Department personnel urged to be abreast of BT products
‘Some biotechnology products pose danger to public health and environment’

BANGALORE: One would wonder what is the relationship between biotechnology and the Customs Department. With the changing trends in science and technology, biotechnology has become a part of everyday life.

In this context, a workshop on bio safety was organised for the officials of the Customs Department here on Thursday.

Inaugurating the workshop, K.S. Nair, Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Bangalore, exhorted the personnel to keep themselves abreast with the changing technology.

Cartagena Protocol

Customs personnel had the responsibility to monitor cross-border movement of biotechnology products following the Cartagena Protocol on Bio Safety.

The two-day workshop, organised by the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics and the Regional Training Institute, has been organised in view of the fast-changing developments in the field of biotechnology that has provoked concerns for bio safety.

The Customs Department acts as a sentinel watching the movement of cargo in the course of export and import.

The department would have to play a more important role in controlling and regulating the cross-border movement of genetically modified organisms and living modified organisms.

Double-edged sword

On one hand, biotechnology has the potential to increase food production and reduce hunger; reduce pesticide consumption leaving the environment relatively safe and new drugs could dramatically improve human health.

On the other hand, the new trends in biotechnology have raised concerns for human health and environment when untested technologies and novel products were recommended for mass consumption.

The Cartagena Protocol on Bio Safety was signed in 2000 to leverage the benefits of bio technology on one hand and to protect the mankind from the inherent risk involved.

The protocol is the first comprehensive global regulatory legal framework for safe transfer, handling and use of genetically modified organisms and living modified organisms.

It came into force on September 11, 2003 and India is a signatory.

Training for officers

In the light of the protocol, the officers of the Customs Department are trained in the area of bio safety and the ways to handle challenges while enforcing the rules.

The workshop has presentations from G. Hegde, Assistant Professor, National Law School of India University; Sachin Chaturvedi, Fellow, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, Delhi; J.V. Ramanaiah, Head, Bio Safety Affairs, Pioneer Seeds, Hyderabad; N. Satyanarayana, Deputy Director, Plant Quarantine, Chennai; D.P. Naidu, Additional-Director of the Academy, Chennai; and Lalitha Gowda, CFTRI, Mysore. The Additional Director-General of the Academy, Bangalore, R. Venkataraman, was present.

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