The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has allowed the use of four varieties of genetically modified corn for animal feed, but farmers still need to get permission from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) to grow them on a large scale.

The four corn varieties include BT 11 and MIR162 supplied by Syngenta Viet Nam Company, and MON 89034 and NK603 of Dekalb Viet Nam (Monsanto).

Under current laws, only when MONRE agrees to grant the certificate on biology and environmental safety, one can grow modified genetically organisms (GMO) on a large scale.

In early 2014, soon after the two companies completed the experiments on the impacts of GM corn on the environment and biodiversity, MARD asked the government to allow cultivation of GM corn under a demonstration model in the provinces of Son La, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Dak Lak, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Thap.

However, the Government Office then replied that the cultivation of GM corn on a large area within the frame of a pilot program would only be carried out after MONRE grants a biology safety certificate to several GM corn varieties.

It is still unclear when MONRE will grant the certificates, though the ministry said it is taking necessary steps to recognize the GM corn varieties to be safe for biodiversity preservation and the environment.

Meanwhile, MARD and farmers are getting impatient about the procedures. It has been repeatedly asking relevant ministries to fulfill necessary procedures to pave the way for the cultivation of GM corn in Viet Nam, hoping that the domestic output can replace imports.

The corn imports for making animal feed have been increasing rapidly in recent years. In the first seven months of 2014, Viet Nam  imported 2.62 million tons of corn, worth $681 million, a 2.4 times increase in volume and 1.9 times increase in value if compared with the same period the last year

While GMO remains a controversial issue worldwide, the Vietnamese agriculture ministry has been advocating GMO development in Viet Nam.

The ministry said GM plants have been grown in many countries. The GMO growing area reached 170 million hectares in 2012 worldwide, increasing by 100 times over 1996.

Viet Nam still does not permit GM corn imports as use for food.

However, analysts say animal feed manufacturers have been importing GM products for years to make feed. Even the soy milk for humans is made of GM soybeans and is available in Viet Nam.

Dr. Nguyen Quang Thach, a senior lecturer at Hanoi University of Agriculture, noted that Viet Nam imports corn and soybeans mostly from the US, Argentina and Brazil, where over 90 percent of such products are GM products.

This means that Viet Nam  has consumed food containing GMOs for the last decade.