The Council of Agriculture begins crackdown on genetically modified papaya by implementing random inspections & punitive measures
2006-08-02
In order to effectively control genetically modified papaya, random inspections of all those engaged in papaya seed propagation shall be conducted, said the Council of Agriculture. At the same time, a superior-quality papaya seed supply system shall be set up, thereby protecting the normal development of the local papaya industry. Inspection measures will begin to be implemented on August 30 this year. As stipulated in the “Plant Variety and Seedling Act,” violators shall be fined more than NT$1 million and less than NT$5 million. The authorities are calling out to all fruit farmers to be careful not to violate the law.
The COA pointed out that in the spirit of the “Plant Variety and Seedling Act,” transgenic plants, whether imported from a foreign country or cultivated locally, should be approved by the central government when it comes to their field experiment, and, these must have attached to them the application indicating their use for examination and the approval document issued by the relevant institution specified by the central government, before being allowed to be promoted and sold in the domestic market. At present, transgenic papaya resistant to papaya ring stop virus has passed fieldtrial evaluation, but hasn’t been approved for registration by the Department of Health yet. Therefore, there is no transgenic crop, which has been approved for cultivation so far.
The COA further pointed out that in order to bring about better management at the source, it has asked the city and county governments to recommend seed dealers with good reputation, and in order to establish a supply system for quality papaya seeds and nursery production, the COA will help seed traders to do random check and to teach them the methods of technically improving planting seedlings. For the seed traders who accept government assistance, they should push the seedling batch production many times and they should actively contact the COA’s transgenic crop inspection unit to do random checks. Information regarding traders with good-quality papaya seeds will be announced by the COA on the website of the Agriculture and Food Agency for the farmers’ reference. The COA further said that in order to establish quality management of papaya seeds, random inspections shall begin on August 30, 2006. However, before introducing sweeping random inspections, during the period from June 30 until July 30, suspicious seeds’ testing will be done for the seed traders free of charge. Anyone who needs such inspection service can contact the city/county government and have them forward the seedlings to the COA’s Agriculture and Food Agency for them to act on request.
The COA explained that to promote a better understanding of the “Plant and Seedling Act,” four large-scale national conferences and 17 smaller papaya production and marketing workshops were held in 2005. To further protect farmers and seed traders, it is planning to hold 18 more such conferences & 2 more workshops on papaya seeds and nursery production this year.
The COA emphasized once more that according to the regulations of the original “Plant and Seedling Act,” violators would have to face prison terms of up to 3 years (or less) as well as a fine of NT$1 million to NT$2 million. However, under the revised “Plant Variety and Seedling Act,” which has been implemented since June 30, 2006, the same violators could be meted fines of NT$1 million to NT$5 million. The COA is strongly advising all concerned fruit farmers not to defy the law!
The COA pointed out that in the spirit of the “Plant Variety and Seedling Act,” transgenic plants, whether imported from a foreign country or cultivated locally, should be approved by the central government when it comes to their field experiment, and, these must have attached to them the application indicating their use for examination and the approval document issued by the relevant institution specified by the central government, before being allowed to be promoted and sold in the domestic market. At present, transgenic papaya resistant to papaya ring stop virus has passed fieldtrial evaluation, but hasn’t been approved for registration by the Department of Health yet. Therefore, there is no transgenic crop, which has been approved for cultivation so far.
The COA further pointed out that in order to bring about better management at the source, it has asked the city and county governments to recommend seed dealers with good reputation, and in order to establish a supply system for quality papaya seeds and nursery production, the COA will help seed traders to do random check and to teach them the methods of technically improving planting seedlings. For the seed traders who accept government assistance, they should push the seedling batch production many times and they should actively contact the COA’s transgenic crop inspection unit to do random checks. Information regarding traders with good-quality papaya seeds will be announced by the COA on the website of the Agriculture and Food Agency for the farmers’ reference. The COA further said that in order to establish quality management of papaya seeds, random inspections shall begin on August 30, 2006. However, before introducing sweeping random inspections, during the period from June 30 until July 30, suspicious seeds’ testing will be done for the seed traders free of charge. Anyone who needs such inspection service can contact the city/county government and have them forward the seedlings to the COA’s Agriculture and Food Agency for them to act on request.
The COA explained that to promote a better understanding of the “Plant and Seedling Act,” four large-scale national conferences and 17 smaller papaya production and marketing workshops were held in 2005. To further protect farmers and seed traders, it is planning to hold 18 more such conferences & 2 more workshops on papaya seeds and nursery production this year.
The COA emphasized once more that according to the regulations of the original “Plant and Seedling Act,” violators would have to face prison terms of up to 3 years (or less) as well as a fine of NT$1 million to NT$2 million. However, under the revised “Plant Variety and Seedling Act,” which has been implemented since June 30, 2006, the same violators could be meted fines of NT$1 million to NT$5 million. The COA is strongly advising all concerned fruit farmers not to defy the law!