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Second Capacity Building Workshop on Food Safety Assessment of Genetically Engineered Plants

    June 3, 2025-June 4, 2025
    9:30 am - 4:30 pm
    The LaLiT
    New Delhi, India

Background

Stakeholders in South Asian countries have discussed regional harmonization of biosafety risk assessment and regulation in the area since 2014. Given the interest in advancing a consensus approach to harmonization of safety assessment of foods derived from genetically engineered (GE) plants, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute obtained support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Emerging Markets Program (EMP) to work with these stakeholders towards a formalized approach to regional harmonization in South Asia. AFSI established an Expert Working Group (EWG) in September of 2020 with representation from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Sri Lanka. All experts were nominated by Competent National Authorities in their respective countries; however, they participated in the deliberations in their individual capacities. The EWG, after several rounds of drafting, review, and discussion, developed a guidance document that describes a consensus approach to the safety assessment of foods derived from GE crops for application across the participating countries, based upon the Codex Alimentarius Guideline for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA. Additionally, tailored approaches for the adoption and operationalization of the regional guidance in each of the respective countries were discussed.

Overview

As part of the operationalization of the consensus approach to safety assessment in India, the first two-day technical training program on food and feed safety assessment was implemented by the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute (AFSI), in collaboration with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL), on September 5-6, 2023. This training program was structured to provide risk assessors on the FSSAI GM panel with in-depth technical information about the purpose, design, and conduct of studies used to inform safety assessments of foods and feeds derived from genetically engineered (GE) plants, aligned with the consensus approach. The program helped establish a baseline understanding of the concepts and principles of safety assessment for food and feed derived from GE plants. Topics included the whole food safety assessment paradigm, toxicity and allergenicity testing, compositional assessment, animal feeding studies, data transportability, and risk communication.

A second capacity building workshop on safety assessment of foods and feeds derived from genetically engineered plants is being organized on June 3-4, 2025 in New Delhi. The first day of the technical training event will provide an overview of food safety assessment, regulatory frameworks, and the global regulatory landscape for foods and feeds derived from genetically engineered plants, followed by a discussion about the handling of genetically engineered plants and their derived products. The second day will encourage discussion about regulatory cooperation among participants through the use of case studies, breakout groups, and guided exercises.

Agenda

Day 1: Context for Food Safety Assessment and Regulatory Frameworks for Foods and Feeds Derived from Genetically Engineered Plants

Session I: Inaugural

June 3, 2025 | 9:30 am - 11:00 am

Time (IST) Activity Presenter
9:30 am Welcome and Introductions
Overview of the Workshop		 Dr. Vibha Ahuja
Chief General Manager, Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) and Senior Advisor, South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP), India
9:40 am Introduction to the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute
September 2023 Workshop: Key Learnings
Review of the Agenda		 Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
Senior Manager – Scientific Programs, AFSI, USA
9:50 am Remarks Dr. Dinesh Kumar
Chair, Scientific Panel on GM Foods, India
10:00 am Remarks Dr. Alka Rao
Advisor – Science, Standards & Regulations, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
10:10 am Keynote Address
Foods and Feeds Derived from Modern Biotechnology: An Overview of Safe Use for 30 Years		 Dr. Donald MacKenzie
Executive Director, Institute for International Crop Improvement (IICI), Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA
10:35 am Opening Address Shri G. Kamala Vardhana Rao
Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
10:45 am Vote of Thanks Dr. Vibha Ahuja
10:50 am Tea Break  

 

Session II: Global Regulatory Landscape for Foods and Feeds derived from Genetically Engineered Plants

Day 1 | June 3, 2025 | 11:30 am - 1:45 pm

Time (IST) Activity Presenter
11:30 am Session Overview Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
11:35 am Regulation of Foods Produced Using Gene Technology Dr. Gaya Subramaniam
Regulatory Scientist – New Foods Section, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)
11:55 am Regulation of Foods and Feeds Derived from GM Plants in Brazil Dr. Galdino Andrade
Professor, Department of Microbiology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina and Member, CTNBio, Brazil
12:15 pm TBD TBD
12:35 pm GM Regulations in the Philippines Dr. Ernelea Cao
Professor Emeritus, University of the Philippines, Diliman and Vice-Chair, Biosafety Committee – Department of Agriculture, The Philippines
1:05 pm GM Regulations in India TBD
1:20 pm Q&A Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
1:15 pm Lunch  

 

Session III: Handling Genetically Engineered Plants and Derived Products

Day 1 | June 3, 2025 | 2:45 pm - 4:30 pm

Time (IST) Activity Presenter
2:45 pm Session Overview Dr. Vibha Ahuja
2:50 pm Low Level Presence: Overview, Guidelines, and Regulations TBD
3:10 pm Low Risk Products Derived from GE Plants Dr. Aniruddha Raychaudhuri
Global Lead – Compositional Biology, Bayer Crop Science, USA
3:30 pm Detection Methods in Biotechnology Dr. Lalitha Gowda
Chief Scientist (Rtd), Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore, India
3:50 pm Introduction to the Case Studies

  • Low-Level Presence
  • Data Transportability
  • Joint Reviews
  • Drafting National Guidelines 
 Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
4:15 pm Q&A Dr. Vibha Ahuja
4:30 pm Close of Day 1  

 

Day 2: Leveraging Thirty Years of Experience in Evaluating Genetically Engineered Plants - What We Have Learnt and How We Can Move Forward

Session IV: Regulatory Cooperation and Case Studies

September 5, 2023 | 9:30 am - 5:30 pm

Time (IST) Activity Presenter
9:30 am Recap of Day 1 and Session Overview Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
9:35 am Interagency and International Cooperation: The Key to Efficient Implementation of Regulations Dr. Donald MacKenzie
9:55 am Overview of the OECD Consensus Document on Considerations for Collaborative Work on the Safety Assessments of Foods and Feeds Derived from rDNA Plants Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
10:15 am Breakout Groups: Discussion on Case Studies Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj, Dr. Vibha Ahuja, and Group Facilitators
11:00 am Tea Break  
11:30 am Regulatory Cooperation Around Agricultural Biotechnology in South America Dr. Pedro Rocha
Coordinator for Biotechnology and Biosecurity, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Costa Rica
11:50 am African Union Member States and the Approval of GMOs for Direct Use for Food, Feed, or for Processing (FFPs) Ms. Modupe Adeyemo
Programme Officer – Food Safety, African Union Development Agency New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD)
12:10 am Breakout Groups: Discussion on Case Studies (continued) Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj, Dr. Vibha Ahuja, and Group Facilitators
1:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm Development of the Health Canada – Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Safety Assessment Sharing Initiative Mr. Jordan Bean
Senior Scientific Project Coordination Biologist, Health Canada
2:20 pm The South Asia Harmonization Initiative: Progress So Far and The Way Forward Dr. Vibha Ahuja
2:40 pm Information Resource: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Policy Approaches Portal Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
2:50 pm Menti-Guided Discussion on Case Studies
Q&A
Survey		 Dr. Bhavneet Bajaj
3:50 pm Close of Workshop (tea served)  

 

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