The Philippines has approved a new set of rules on genetically modified organisms after a top court demanded an overhaul of previous regulations, providing relief to farmers and importers worried that any delay would spark a food crisis.

 

Five ministers had signed the rules as of Monday, Merle Palacpac, chief of the plant quarantine service at the Bureau of Plant Industry, told Reuters.

 

The new rules will now be forwarded to the Department of Agriculture, with Palacpac saying they would likely take effect by April.

 

The Supreme Court in December halted the issuance of fresh permits for planting or importing genetically modified crops until the new rules were in place, putting in limbo nearly 1 million corn farmers and buyers of GM soybean meal, the Philippines' top GMO import. (Reuters)

 

 

PHOTO: Locally manufactured corn grits for animal feed is pictured at a local market in Manila, Philippines February 16, 2016.

CREDIT: REUTERS/ERIK DE CASTRO.