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NEW DELHI: With a fresh round of trade negotiations between India and the US beginning in Washington, the Coalition for a GM-Free India — a network of farmers and civil society organisations — on Monday wrote to the central govt, urging it not to allow imports of genetically modified (GM) cotton seed oil, animal feed dried distillers’ grains (DDGs) and soybean oil into India from the US.In its detailed letter to several Union ministers, including commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, the Coalition also urged them not to allow elimination of GM as a non-tariff trade barrier. The US has long been asking India to address the issue of non-tariff barriers in trade in American food and agricultural products.The Coalition argued that allowing these imports would constitute backdoor entry of GM food in India when the domestic law explicitly prohibits it, and will lead to legitimisation of transgenic food.Though India could protect its ground by not allowing import of corn (maize) and soybean (both genetically modified crops in the US) in an interim agreement on Feb 7, it agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on a wide range of American agricultural products, including DDGs and soybean oil.The move was criticised by farm organisations who flagged how DDGs would mostly come from genetically modified American corn.In its letter, the Coalition flagged how different American organisations have been pushing for opening up the Indian market for GM farm products directly or indirectly, and urged the govt to step away from all bodies which are promoting US interests for GM crops in India under their MoUs with US pro-GM outfits.“These entities are nothing less than new-age East India Companies, setting presence in India and working to open India’s markets for American GM produce, and erode our sovereignty,” it said.
