In this interview, [K.K. Narayanan, one of the Founder-Directors of Metahelix Life Sciences] speaks about the arduous but persistent . . . journey of genetically-modified crops in India. . .
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Does the present regulatory system help incumbents?
It is inadvertently creating a monopoly. . . . Today, the entry barrier is regulation— it is not the capability to develop technologies.
Our political leaders associate agri-biotechnology with American companies.
. . . [Y]ou will see that one company is giving the technology to everybody. You are not realising why the other companies are not coming up to that level. It is because of regulatory hurdles. We have developed Bt cotton with stacked genes for bollworm resistance. It is different from that of Monsanto, . . . . We have Bt rice and herbicide-tolerant maize. . . . We have developed them here.
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In May, the government tried to give a compulsory license on patented Bt cotton using the Essential Commodities Act.
Compulsory licensing is bad. If you stifle the system, you are going to impact innovation. . . . Bringing cottonseed into the Essential Commodities Act was an arbitrary decision.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Regulation, Not Capability, Is The Entry Barrier In Agri-Biotechnology
