The Philippine Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry has granted the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PRRI), approval for its GR2E Golden Rice following a biosafety assessment. The approval covers Golden Rice for direct use as food and feed, or for processing (FFP).  To complete the Philippine biosafety regulation process, the product will require approval for commercial propagation before it can be made commercially available. Golden Rice gained safety and nutrition approvals from Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Health Canada, and the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2018 (see AgbioNews May 28, 2018).

Golden Rice is a biofortified product that contains elevated levels of vitamin A and is intended to act as a method to control Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) as part of a complementary, food-based solution to existing nutritional interventions, such as diet diversification and oral supplementation.

GR2E Golden Rice is a genetically modified rice variety that contains the genetic event IR-00GR2E-5 and possess complete copies of the genes Zmpsy1, SSU-crtI and pmi. Zmpsy1 codes for phytoene synthase protein and was isolated from maize (Zea mays). The SSU-crtI produces a carotene desaturase protein isolated from the bacterium Pantoea ananatis, while pmi produces a phosphomannose isomerase enzyme that is used as a cell selection tool.