The inordinate delay on the part of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to fill up the vacancy of the Special Secretary, who is the ex-officio chairman of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), has put brakes on the functioning of the committee for the last one month.

Applications from 10 pharmaceutical companies are known to be pending before the committee, which was scheduled to meet in September.

Since chairman is the only authority designated to call for the meeting, much depends on the government decision to fill up the post without further delay. When contacted, Ministry sources had no clue on the current status of the fresh appointment. The indefinite delay in the clearances has already harmed the long-term interests of the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

Almost all pharma applications that reach GEAC are for the manufacturing or marketing of drugs that come out of foreign collaborations. "The applicants are needlessly suffering due to the inaction of the ministry to clear the mess. If this is the treatment meted out to the applicants, many of them who have foreign collaborations will find this process a major deterrent. Biotech companies from Europe or US will find it much easier to set up their joint venture production facilities in other countries like Thailand, Malaysia or China where there are less bureaucratic hurdles" feels a Delhi based industry source.

Interestingly, GEAC has had three "chairpersons" in the current year and is waiting for the forth person to take charge now. The frequent change in chairpersons happens due to the promotion / transfer / retirement of senior IAS officers who adorn the post of special secretary from time to time.

Earlier, the chairperson of GEAC used to be an Additional Secretary, a post where promotions or transfers are less frequent than that of the Special Secretary. It was in May, the government asked V K Duggal, the then Special Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to take charge as chairperson of GEAC. Within two months, Navin B. Chawla replaced him as Special Secretary. The term of Chawla ended on September 24, when he was promoted as secretary of another department. The post is lying vacant since then.

According to sources, there is a move within the ministry to find a permanent solution to the problem. GEAC is the highest authority when it comes to the sanctions for the testing of genetically altered organisms, transgenic animals, plant material tested against pathogens etc. Import for large scale use, export, manufacture, process, sell, use of any genetically engineered substances or cells including food stuffs and additives that contains rDNA products are also subject to regulatory control by GEAC. Given the necessity of regular GEAC meetings, the ministry may even think of reversing its recent decision and ask the additional secretary to head GEAC. The Additional Secretary post is normally subjected to change only once in five years.

The last Additional Secretary to head the committee was Sushma Choudhury. Though the official explanation given for taking away the charges of GEAC from her to the Special Secretary was "routine re-allotment of work at the senior bureaucratic level", Choudhury's "rigid' stand on the import of corn soya blend into India was also seen as a reason which prompted the decision.

The GEAC consists of officials and experts from the ministry of environment and forests, ministry of health, industrial development, departments of biotechnology and atomic energy; Indian Council of Agricultural Research; Indian Council of Medical Research; Council of Scientific and Industrial Research; Directorate of Plant Protection; Central Pollution Control Board and others in individual capacity.