India Exempts Genome-Edited Plants from Biosafety Assessment

In a Memorandum dated March 30, 2022, India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has announced the exemption of genome-edited plants without foreign genes from being treated as transgenic products.

The move was recommended by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology; and Department of Agriculture Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and finalized by the Central Government to exempt genome-edited SDN1 and SDN2 plants without introduced DNA from biosafety assessment.

The Memorandum states, “SDN1 and SDN2 genome-edited products free from exogenous introduced DNA be exempted from biosafety assessment in pursuance of rule 20 of the Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically engineered Organisms or Cells Rules 1989.”

For more details, read this article, or click here to read the Memorandum.