Overview
- The National Biosafety Committee deferred final decisions and directed the Technical Advisory Committee to re-examine long‑pending biosafety applications, a move made on Friday that pauses possible approvals for GM corn technologies.
- The NBC reviewed a package of agenda items that included Food, Feed and Processing approvals for soybean meal, renewal of GM corn biosafety licences, and multiple cotton-related applications.
- Officials told the meeting that the government’s National Agricultural Biotechnology Policy (NABP 2025) has closed the policy gap that led to a 2019 hold on commercialization of biotech food crops.
- Industry groups such as CropLife Pakistan said approvals would speed farmer access to advanced seed technologies and trigger demonstration and training work, while traders including Louis Dreyfus Company warned that poor drying, storage and transport will limit export gains regardless of licences.
- What happens next is a clearer technical report from the TAC and a final NBC decision; even if licences are granted, stakeholders say effective rollout will require on‑farm stewardship, training and investment in post‑harvest infrastructure to deliver benefits to farmers.