Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Domingo Panganiban said yesterday that in line with the commercialization of biotechnology products, the agency is already in the process of further strengthening its Biosafety guidelines for research and testing.

In his keynote address at the Conference on Biosafety Policy Options for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economies at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Panganiban said, "We have already formulated string national policies on the commercialization of our biotech products, and we are now in the process of strengthening even further our Biosafety guidelines for research and testing."

"At the same time, we are rapidly building the risk assessment and management capabilities of our national government institutions," he added.

With the success of Bt corn, cotton and papaya in the country in the previous years, the country can expect the commercialization of golden rice two years from now, said Panganiban.

Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano added that Golden Rice is seen as a solution to address Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), "which has been observed in the poorest areas of the country."

Czarina Martinez, Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI-DOST) science research specialist I earlier said that based on the 6th National Nutrition Survey (NNS), vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among children six months to five years old increased from 38 percent in 1998 to 40.1 percent in 2003. VAD among lactating mothers also increased from 16.5 percent in 1998 to 20.1 percent in 2003.

However, VAD decreased among pregnant women from 22.2 percent in 1998 to 17.5 in 2003.

Serrano also said that the country has a "selective but comprehensive pipeline" set up for this year, including the production of tropical vegetables, new tilapia varieties as well as other significant biotechnology programs."

Panganiban meanwhile said that at present, 250,000 to 300,000 hectares (has.) are already in use for hybrid corn while 25,000 has. are already used for the propagation for the propagation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

"Today, the Philippines is among the top 12 nations in the world where over 85 percent of the land is already under intense use for agriculture, housing and industry," Panganiban said.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Science and Technology Adviser Julian Adams said that GMO crops have significant positive helath benefits, as well as financial benefits to farmers as compared to the use of pesticides.

Adams however said that comprehensive risk assessments and continuous studies on biotech crops are needed to ensure the safe utilization of biotech crops.

The conference, participated in by 15 APEC economies, aims to discuss options for agricultural biotechnology regulation in various government sectors and to give participants a clearer understanding of the breadth of sectoral considerations embedded in Biosafety policy, including trade, research and technology investment, environment, health and public policy.