Taiwan Quick Take: Rogue papaya strain eyed

An inspection mechanism is to be set up to prevent the commercial growing, marketing and exporting of transgenic papayas, a Council of Agriculture (COA) official said yesterday. The official said that a locally developed genetically modified strain of papaya that is claimed to be capable of resisting the papaya ringspot virus has not yet been approved for commercial planting, marketing or export. The official noted that although permission has never been granted for the planting or marketing of the genetically modified papaya strain, several cases of the illegal acquisition and planting of the papaya strain have been reported.