ISLAMABAD: A high-level government committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected a proposal to allow the import of genetically modified (GMO) soybean meal, despite strong lobbying by major poultry industry players. The move follows controversy surrounding the suspension of the Director General of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), reportedly due to her role in the meal’s import approval process.
The committee, chaired by Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Musaddiq Malik, held its second meeting on Friday (May 9), where it concluded that the current domestic production of soybean meal processed from imported soybean seeds, is sufficient to meet the poultry sector’s demand. A reliable source confirmed that the committee decided to defer any further import decisions for at least six months.
The committee was constituted after the All Pakistan Solvent Extractors’ Association (APSEA) raised serious concerns. APSEA, which imports soybean seeds (including GMO varieties) and processes them into oil and meal, warned that the unchecked import of ready-to-use GMO soybean meal would jeopardize local solvent extraction units and undermine domestic industry.
The Prime Minister tasked the committee, including ministers from the Commerce, National Food Security, Power, and Industries divisions, with the Climate Change Ministry serving as secretariat, to evaluate APSEA’s concerns and make recommendations aligned with international best practices within three weeks.
According to documents, the approval process had advanced significantly. After clearance from an Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) under the Ministry of Climate Change, then led by Ms. Farzana Altaf Shah, the now-suspended DG of Pak-EPA, recommended registration and issuance of licenses for the import of GMO soybean meal from the United States. The import applications came from poultry feed producers such as SB Feeds and Zubair Feeds.
Earlier this year, the federal government amended the Biosafety Rules to allow GMO food and feed imports based on international risk assessments endorsed by local biosafety bodies, removing the requirement for local testing. The change has sparked criticism from environmental experts and domestic industry stakeholders.
While the TAC supported the imports, APSEA raised objections to the speed of the approval process and the absence of thorough local risk assessments. A scheduled meeting of the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) to finalize the decision was subsequently postponed for further review.
APSEA has called for the immediate suspension of all GMO meal import approvals until a transparent, science-based regulatory framework is established. The association cited past cases where imported GMO shipments were deemed substandard by the Department of Plant Protection and returned.
On the other side of the debate, representatives from the poultry and feed mill sectors argue that GMO soybean meal is not only more cost-effective but also offers superior nutritional value compared to domestically processed meals. They claim the current restrictions unfairly shield a handful of local processors at the expense of the broader poultry industry.
However, a major soybean seed importer refuted this claim, pointing out that meal prices have dropped significantly since the resumption of GMO soybean seed imports. He argued that earlier price surges were due to a temporary ban on seed imports—not a shortage of GMO meal.
