Golden Rice
Golden Rice is intended as a complementary, food-based solution to existing nutritional interventions, such as diet diversification and oral supplementation.
Photo courtesy of IRRI.
 
LOS BAÑOS, THE PHILIPPINES — The Philippine Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) has given the go-signal for the conduct of public consultations on the proposed field trials for GR2E Golden Rice.

Golden Rice, a provitamin-A biofortified rice variety, is intended as a complementary, food-based solution to existing nutritional interventions, such as diet diversification and oral supplementation.

The public consultation process is a significant component of biosafety regulatory approval under the Joint Department Circular No. 1 series of 2016. The consultation process is comprised of Public Information Sheet postings in accessible community locations, a 30-day public comment period, and the public hearing. This provides community members with the opportunity to participate responsibly in a critical biosafety decision-making process.

The public consultation is set on July 18 in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija and on July 20 in San Mateo, Isabela.

Together with PhilRice, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is developing high-yielding inbred local rice varieties with the beta-carotene producing GR2E Golden Rice trait.

Golden Rice completed its third positive food safety evaluation, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In an official response received by the IRRI on May 24, the FDA concurred with IRRI’s assessment regarding the safety and nutrition of Golden Rice.

The U.S. FDA statement came after the safety and nutrition approvals from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and Health Canada in February and March 2018, respectively. These three national regulatory agencies carry out their assessments based on concepts and principles developed over more than two decades by international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.