Philippines: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual
The Philippines is a regional biotechnology leader and a model for science-based GE regulatory policy. GE corn has been on sale in the country since 2003, and comprised a fourth of total corn area in 2014. The country was poised to be the first Southeast Asian country to commercialize locally developed GE crops had it not been for a 2012 court decision postponing approval of the already completed Bt eggplant field trials. The case has been elevated to the Philippine Supreme Court which has yet to issue a decision. While commercialization of local GE research has slowed, commercial GE corn production has commenced in Vietnam in early 2015, and Indonesia is expected to commercialize GE corn and sugarcane soon. According to experts, further delays in commercializing Philippine GE research are expected to erode the country’s GE regional leadership status, and in general terms, may dampen the long term competitiveness of Philippine agriculture.
