The Thai Agriculture Department plans to conduct field experiments on genetically modified crops this year after a biosafety committee agreed to end a two-year ban.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob said the ban had disrupted research on genetic engineering technology.
The department will be allowed to plant GM crops in open fields under strict rules to prevent dispersal of GM plants. The field trials will be allowed only in experimental areas, such as the department’s research plantations. Planting of large-scale GM crops remains banned.
Private seed companies such as Monsanto (Thailand) will be allowed to conduct GM field trials at the research stations but they must be conducted jointly with the department.