Investigating the status of transgenic crops in Iran in terms of cultivation, consumption, laws and rights in comparison with the world

Recently, there has been a development in transgenic technologies in many countries to meet nutritional needs of increasing worlds҆ population. However, there are some concerns about possible risks in the field of growing genetically modified (GM) food, such as threats of biodiversity and food allergies making their use a challenge. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the economic effects and political scopes of GM foods in production sector and policies made by different countries in the world and Iran. Moreover, essential (practical and legal) solutions and guidelines were provided for production and consumption of GM foods, which are useful for governmental entities, Iranian politicians, and consumers' rights. The latest situation of transgenic crops in the countries with which Iran has the highest exchange of agricultural products (including Turkey, Pakistan, and the European Union (EU)) was also studied. Although, Iran has been one of leading Asian countries not only in the field of transfer of technical knowledge of genetic engineering, but also in development of the specialized knowledge of biosafety, and despite production of several transgenic plant lines by Iranian researchers, unfortunately no GM crop has obtained release and cultivation license except for GM rice that its growing process was banned after change of government. According to findings of this study, in Iran, growing and production process of GM crops does not follow the global trend owing to scientific and legal infrastructures.

www.nature.com/scientificreports/ resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another one. This convention was accepted as an agreement attached to CBD. According to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, all the GMOs should be tested in terms of laboratory analysis, greenhouse, and field assessments for product specifications, considered use, environmental effects, and possible risks for humans҆ and animals҆ health to make decision on their application, import, and export. Countries should follow these regulations, approve safe use of GMOs, adopt the required measures through control process and transportation, and enact some rules on labeling and packing of the GMOs. This protocol has predicted some limits on regulations of free trade of GMOs through signing agreements with the world trade organization (WTO) 28 . In the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, biosafety measures are done based on the possible interaction between GMOs and environment to preserve biological diversity. For ensuring biosafety, pre-announced agreement is signed between exporting and importing countries. All the countries are informed about converting food waste into animal feed and processed foods. Some statements and documentation should be inserted on the label or next to the label of these products clearly indicating the following sentence "may contain GMOs" and it should be noted that they should not be left in the environment. Applicable regulations on GMOs are declared to countries and they can share this information with other countries. Following Iran's accession to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the process of drafting the Biosafety Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran began and finally, in 2009, this law was approved by the Islamic Parliament. Not only this law has allowed performing all the affairs associated with GMOs but also it has obliged the government to facilitate release, cultivation, production, consumption, export, and import of GM products regarding local technology based on legal regulations 29,30 . Hence, an organization called as "Biosafety Council" was established in Iran by forming a secretariat in Department of Environment responsible for producing and supplying GM products 31 .

The latest status of transgenic crops in the world
There has been a 112-fold increase in the land area under cultivation of transgenic products from the beginning of commercialization in 1996 to the end of 2018 reaching from 1.7 to 189.8 million hectares (Fig. 1). For achieving the increase in yield of transgenic plants, it is estimated that more than 300 million hectares of conventional crops are needed 32 . This additional area should include the lands requiring more water and fertilizers or tropical forests that should be destroyed for this purpose. Such destruction leads to serious environmental concerns globally. Statistics show a global rise in production of GM products so that, 26 countries 7,19 cultivated GM plants in 2016 and 6.99 and 5.85 million hectares of lands in developing and developed countries were allocated to GM products, respectively. The highest rate of cultivation area was allocated to soybean with 91.4 million hectares accounting for about 50% of total areas used for GM plants. Among 26 countries cultivated biotechnology products in 2018, 18 countries have been the pioneers of this trend that have increased the rate by allocating 50.000 hectares of lands to such products. USA is the top producer of biotechnology products in the world by allocating 75 million hectares to these products covering 39% of global crops under cultivation by the biotechnology method; and Brazil is ranked as the second country by allocating 51.3 million hectares (about 27% of global production) (Fig. 2). Soybean, corn, cotton, and canola were the most cultivated biotechnology products in 2018. Although, only a 2% increase has been reported in cultivation of GM soybean (2018 compared to 2017), but an acceptance rate above 50% has been maintained accounting for about 95.9 million hectares of lands. These areas include about 78% of total soybean production in the world (Fig. 3). In 2018, 58.9 million hectares (30% of global production) were allocated to cultivation of GM corn.
Average acceptance rate of GM crops (soybean, corn, and canola) was about 93.3, 93, 100, 92.5, and 95% in USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and India, respectively in 2018 33 . Now, this industry is experiencing a recession period, constant growth of which depends on deregulation in new markets, and research and development of new products. In 2019, 43 GM plants were approved covering 40 species all around the world (Table 1)  www.nature.com/scientificreports/ of transgenic crops in the world varied from 100% of acceptance in Argentina to its relative acceptance in Asian countries (Pakistan), relative restriction in Europe, and its absolute ban in "Turkey" neighboring Iran Studying this case in the countries exchanging agricultural products with Iran can help to determine the current status of adoption of transgenic crops in Iran.

Statistics about Irans҆ trade exchange
In the first 6 months of 2021, major importers of agricultural products and food industries to Iran in terms of import value included Turkey ($692. www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Turkey. Turkey benefits from rich genetic resources so, "biodiversity degradation" is considered as the most important risk for the use of GM products. In Turkey, it is believed that restoring GMOs in nature is possible after their consumption and the lack of information in this field may harm genetic resources. Therefore, this substantial issue should be considered in rules. Production and cultivation of GMOs is forbidden in Turkey. According to Biosafety Act of Turkey, it is banned to produce GM crops. Severe fines have been considered for those who violate this rule in the market. According to Article 15 of Turkish Law entitled as fines, importers or producers of GMOs in the environment are sentenced to 5-12 years of prison and paying a governmental fine of 10.000-200.000 Turkish Liras based on type of the crime committed against the law (not notifying the Biosafety Council). In Turkey, export and import of GMOs is monitored. Monitoring system is based on specific methods and rules for crops with and without genetic alteration. According to this law, GM crops should be labeled based on the decision made by Biosafety Council upon arrival. Therefore, it is not possible to introduce or supply GM crops through ambiguous methods against public opinions; as in Turkey, complete information is included in these products to make consumers aware of the difference between GM and non-GM products. Hence, consumers have the right to choose products. Biosafety Act was introduced in Turkey to solve the problems related to absence of law on GMOs. The combined management of pests and weeds along with integrated control of crops has been considered as an option for genetic usages in Turkey in order to increase quality and efficiency as well as sustainable agricultural development and food safety 10 .
EU and USA. Considering severe regulatory atmosphere in EU, only one type of GM plant (pests-resistant GM corn) is allowed to be cultivated in the EU. Spain is the only European country with many farms under cultivation of GM products. Farmers have had good experiences and high economic yield regarding efficiency of GM corn compared to ordinary corn in regions contaminated with pests since introduction of this technology in 1998 37 . In 2018, 35 and 6% of total areas of Spain and Portugal (about 121.000 hectares of lands) were allocated to cultivation of GM corn, respectively. While, low amount of GM corn has been cultivated in four other European countries (Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia). www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Although, cultivating pests-resistant GM corn has been approved in EU, but many EU member states have relied on the regulations enacted by EU (412/2015), allowing the countries to ban this technology due to nonscientific reasons 38 . According to reports published by European countries, there is high amount of the imported and consumed GM foods because this ultimately helps in meeting their nutritional demands. On the other hand, when about 80% of the world's soybean crop is transgenic, European countries have to import it, whether they like it or not 24 .
But GM products were widely consumed in livestock feed and food markets in USA market in 1996 after introduction of these products. USA authorities had adopted and approved a permissible policy for GM foods without any need to label GM plants. Furthermore, majority of American consumers were less worried about GM foods and agricultural biotechnology in the years following introduction of these products so that, they used to purchase foodstuffs produced from GM plants despite their limited knowledge about GM foods. There has been a considerable change in social and regulatory framework at both sides of Atlantic Ocean that has directly influenced consumers҆ attitude. In contrary to USA, EU approved strict requirements in this case. Since 1997, in EU, it has been approved to label GM foods-even if genetic modification is identified in final product 39 . Moreover, foods purified from GM plants, such as oils or sugars have been labeled since 2003 even if these products are physically or chemically similar to non-GM products 27,40 . Now, EU has set a certain regulatory framework for cultivating, consuming, and importing GM products for livestock feed and foodstuffs 41,42 . Although, NGOs usually play lesser role in USA, these organizations have performed successfully in introducing GM plants as a threat to biodiversity, farmers' independence, and food safety in Europe 10,24-43 . In general, social and political conditions of Europe justify negative attitude of European consumers toward GM foods compared to consumers in Northern America 27,39-43 . There is a low acceptance on GM plants among European politicians and consumers, in particular in Germany.

GM crops in Iran (challenges, practical, and legal solutions)
Agriculture sector in Iran has been one of important and relatively stable economic sectors of the country with about 14-15% share of gross domestic product (GDP) despite the unprecedented sanctions over the recent years. Moreover, this sector accounts for about 20% of employment rate in Iran while only 5% of direct employment of individuals in developed countries belongs to agriculture sector. Hence, agriculture sector is the most important part of Iran's economy 44 . Currently, Iran faces with water crisis since about 80-90% of the country's water consumption is related to agricultural purposes 45 . On the other hand, along with the increase in life expectancy, population of Iran is expected to reach 95.3 and more than 112 million people at the lowest and highest predicted levels, respectively in 2031. Therefore, it is essential to develop various crop species with enriched nutrients and high resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses considering increasing population rate, small arable lands, high employment rate in agriculture sector, increasing climate change rate, global warming, and current droughts 28 . Under these conditions, new biotechnology methods including transgenic plants can meet the increase in demand due to population growth without the need for increasing area under cultivation (considering drought and climate change) in Iran.
In Iran, similar oppositions may be seen in NGOs, eco-friendly institutions, and high management levels about GM products. Opponents of development of genetic engineering are trying to prevent from such technology although national law on biosafety forces the government to facilitate release, cultivation, production, consumption, import, and export of GM products. This means that conventional method for production of crops is going to be continued. Iran has been one of leading countries in Asia not only in transferring knowledge of genetic engineering but also in developing biosafety science. Iranian experts participated in the first meetings of advisory committee of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and Iran has been one of the first Asian countries joined this protocol 28 . Some biosafety actions have been done in Iran including establishment of the first scientific biosafety association among Asian countries, designing and approving Biosafety Act, establishing National Biosafety Council, forming the specialized secretariats in three ministries, founding a governmental organization, enforcing assessment mechanism, and issuing licenses regarding environmental release, import, and export of GM products. Although, there have been numerous infrastructures and achievements in the field of commercialization and production of GM products, Iran cannot be named as a successful country in this regard 31 . Despite successful production of several GM plants in field experiments by Iranian researchers, no GM product has received release permission expect for GM rice that was formally released in 2004 but its production was banned after change of government. Lack of scientific governance and national benefits-based approaches to plant genetic engineering as well as debatable issues in this field can be named as reasons for such significant inconsistency between Iran's capacities and achievements on genetic engineering technology 28 . In Iran, more than 99% of crops are produced using conventional agrochemical methods and rate of organic production is lower than 1%. Therefore, chemical toxins are essentially used in Iran's farming technology. Despite dramatic growth in consumption of GM plants in the world, excessive use of chemical pesticides by Iranian farmers, along with legal emphasis on the government's obligation to provide the required facilities for production and consumption of GM plants (Biosafety Law) is still a debatable issue due to opposition of some Iranian managers. Adeli and Ghareyazi 46 carried out a study and found that 90% of pesticides are used to control crop pests while these pests are controlled by GM plants in the world. Moreover, reduction of these toxins brings numerous advantages for farmers who use these seeds (regarding humans҆ health and environment). Furthermore, repetitive use of insecticides makes insects resistant to the previous forms. Cultivation of GM rice in Iran is a practical example for controlling Asiatic rice borer. There are several GM rice species that can control this pest. There was a global rise in production of GM products in 1996 and Iran also began to produce Asiatic rice borer-resistant GM rice (while, in conventional agricultural method, the highest amount of toxin is used in rice cultivation to combat it). Such achievement in Iran received a considerable attention from the world as this rice called "Taram Moulaee" www.nature.com/scientificreports/ is the first GM version of rice released in the world and the first GM product produced in Muslim countries and Middle East, which has reached the farms. Hundreds of Iranian farmers have produced this rice but its cultivation has been banned due to biosafety concerns; since then, farmers have used a higher concentration and new compositions of insecticides-due to resistance of pests and inefficiency of pesticides-to control these pests. Accordingly, these GM seeds could reduce the use of pesticides and environmental contaminations and control natural and useful insects living in rice fields, such as ladybirds and fishes. In particular, these seeds could solve the problems of farmers caused by having contact with such toxins 25 . Monitoring type and number of pesticides used in agricultural products is an important and sensitive issue that is not done in Iran as it should be. Rice cultivation in northern provinces of Iran is one of the main sources for livelihood of farmers. Numerous pests existing in rice fields have led to severe crop loss in this area 47 ; hence, it is essential to use pesticides and other chemical toxins in the current rice cultivation so that, 60% of total use of pesticides in Iran belongs to northern provinces dominant cropping pattern of which is rice 48 . Reports indicate that pest's control is usually done using chemical toxins among farmers in north of Iran. Excessive use of pesticides is harmful for useful living insects and organisms in farms so that, they may cause high incidence rate of gastrointestinal cancer in these provinces. On the other hand, chemical pesticides are using increasingly due to their economic benefits, availability, efficiency, and flexibility and there might be no possible reduction in their use rate 46 . In addition, their effectiveness in controlling pests indicates their acceptable function; hence, farmers tend to use chemical pesticides because they are not aware of their negative effects on humans҆ health and environment 48 . Since, the Asiatic rice borer causes 4-6% of damage to the produced rice and 2.9 million tons of rice was produced in 2018 (with 36 kg consumption per capita), 1,000 tons of rice should be imported to keep market equilibrium and support strategic storage of the country 49  On the other hand, Iran is importer of oil, forage, and corn sold as GM products in the global market. It should be noted that only about 10% of soybean derivatives including vegetable oils, soybean flour, lecithin, and soybean protein is non-GM in market of many countries. Moreover, GM grains exist in 20% of the marketed cereals and their derivatives, such as starch and cereal flour and more than 90% of these foods are produced and supplied regardless of labeling based on EU processes and standards, which are the most binding rules in the world. GM foods are going to be produced in the future; for instance, rice, sugar, tea, and sugar beet will be added to the list of GM products. However, livestock feed is the main market of GM products 52,53 . On the other hand, Iran is highly dependent on import of the main global GM products (soy, cotton, corn, and canola) and more than 90% of vegetable oil is imported with the highest area under cultivation in the world. According to statistics, about 2,300 thousand tons of total 2 vegetable oil consuming in Iran include the imported oil and oilseeds (about 2 million and 150,000 tons of soy, 80,000 tons of canola, and about 55 tons of sesame seed). In 2018, 78% of globally cultivated soybean and 29% of canola were genetically modified so that, even EU countries imported the oil produced from GM plants despite the strict rules adopted for GM plants in Europe. Therefore, vegetable oil-importing countries, such as Iran have to import these foodstuffs. On the other hand, more than 8 million tons of livestock corn was imported to Iran in 2019. This livestock feed was exported from 18 countries of the world including USA as a livestock corn exporter. Accordingly, 2,225 tons of livestock corn was imported to Iran from USA, costing US$ 500, 000. USA is the largest producer of GM products in the world accounting for about 30% of global market share in 2019 54 .
In 2019, Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran declared only three transgenic GM products including oilseeds of canola, soybean, and corn as allowed products thus, there is no other GM product in Iran's market and the named products should have been labeled too. It has been also reported that total soybeans imported to Iran are genetically modified and Iranian people are consuming GM plants over 15 years. On the other hand, more than 6 million tons of corn, livestock and poultry feed imported to Iran are genetically modified; however, there is also GM cotton seed for oil production in Iran's market. Hence, the Head of Department of Environment and the Main Member of Biosafety Council explained that there is no scientific document on risky effects of GM foods on humans҆ health in Iran and there is a global debate stating that excessive pressure on existing resources is riskier than production and consumption of GM foods 55 . Now, Iran's FDA has predicted the main provisions on import of GM products to Iran as follows; first, the GM product should also be used in producing country and second, the product should have an international license with a transparent GM and genetic manipulation process. For example, even a GM or non-GM corn by-product imported to Iran should have a valid license in both cases. In the case of GM product, it should present a license proving type of GM as well as consumption permission in producing country. A GM product should have an international license obtained from U.S. FDA or European food safety authority (EFSA) 56 . Furthermore, about 50-60% of cotton is imported to Iran while 80% of the lands under cotton cultivation are allocated to GM varieties in the world 34 . Moreover, international organizations, such as FAO, WHO, EU Commission, French academy of medicine (FAM), American medical association (AMA), and American Toxicology Association have assessed safety of foods produced from GM plants and have approved their safety for humans҆ health 28,57 . According to advantages of GM plants for economy and environmental and humans҆ health , the required licenses for cultivation of these www.nature.com/scientificreports/ products should be given to farmers based on the Biosafety Law approved by Islamic Parliament, global food standards and protocols, and tasks assigned to beneficiaries by Biosafety Act to track and test food security of GM products. Furthermore, consumer has the right to know which product is genetically modified. GM labeling is a solution used to alleviate concerns about these products. Although, there are disagreements on labeling GM foods and microorganisms, it seems that producers of GM foods and microorganisms as well as biotechnology owners will insist on GM labeling as these labels can represent high quality of GM foods 17 . For instance, high oleic acid-containing GM soybean producers claim that their product contains less saturated fat so it is more suitable for consumption. Therefore, the consumer's trust will be achieved if there is an access to real and neutral information about GM foods and GMOs given to consumers 58 . As mentioned earlier, religious attitude of individuals may influence acceptance of GM products. This is an important challenge in using results obtained from genetic engineering studies and production of GM plants or organisms consumed by people. Despite the concerns raised in Islamic principles, there is no dissuasive rule for genetic modification in plants and animals. There have been various opinions about consumption of GM products in Islam and there is no consensus on acceptance of these products. According to the research findings and from Islamic experts' viewpoints, in Islam (Shia religion), consumption of GM products is unrestricted, provided that they are safe and producing health similar to natural foods. In addition, bioethics has been considered by Islamic authorities. They believe that GM products and their relevant studies and technologies are permissible if safety and ethical aspects are respected. Such provisions are based on proper structures and mechanisms. Seemingly, there are suitable structures, such as Department of Environment, Plant Protection Organization, and other executive organizations in Iran playing a vital role in this field. The above-mentioned organizations cooperate with the National Biosafety Council and Biotechnology Development Headquarter. It is hoped to achieve a proper mechanism in executive acts due to approval of National Biosafety Law.

Conclusion
Level of public awareness about advantages and disadvantages of transgenic plants is low in Iran and relative and temporary acceptance has been achieved due to the existence of Biosafety Law and licenses issued by the Irans҆ FDA to import and consume them based on specific criteria as well as public trust in responsible agencies and supervisors ,but the lack of informed and strong NGOs in the field of public awareness, along with the possibility of expressing resistance towards their consumption with the increase in public awareness necessitates revision of Biosafety Law and also the developed import and export guidelines. Finally, considering consumption of these products in Iran for more than 15 years and the existence of scientific and legal infrastructure, the main decision-makers in the field of transgenic products in Iran are suggested to continue production of transgenic products in a gentle slope. In this regard, rice produced in Iran using high amounts of pesticides and herbicides, as well as major and basic imported products used to feed livestock, such as corn can be good choices to be produced as transgenic crops. www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Publisher's note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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