Kenya is on the verge of adopting genetically modified crops after the government promised to gazette both the Biosafety Act and its regulations. Players in the industry have been complaining there are no rules to guide field tests of bio-tech crops.
Acting minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology Hellen Sambili promised to gazette the Act today and the regulations next week "I make a commitment to publish the act immediately and the regulations as soon as they are handed over to me," Sambili said at a one-day workshop convened to discuss the regulations.President Kibaki signed into law the Biosafety Act in 2009, but the relevant minister was expected to gazette the day of commencement.
The delay was blamed on disagreements regarding the controversial law and politics over appointment of key officers into offices created by the act.The act establishes a powerful National Biosafety Authority to regulate all GMO activities in Kenya.Key officials were appointed to the authority last year and have been developing regulations to operationalise the Act.
According to the proposed regulations, the NBA will license for up-to ten years players in GMOs provided their products have no negative effects on the environment.
Sambili said the controversial technology can address food shortage in Kenya including the current scarcity of seeds and high food prices."The rapidly increasing global adoption of modern bio-tech crops is testimony to this," she said at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.
Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture John Mututho warned scientists to be ethical and avoid "scientific mischief"."People will for instance not eat a pig in any form, so its genes should not be introduced into other food crops," he said.
Chairman of the NBA Miriam Kinyua promised the draft regulations will be handed over to the minister immediately."The document will be submitted next week and the minister has promised to gazette them immediately," she said.
Acting head of NBA Roy Mugiira said Kenya will join African countries who have already commercialized GM crops."We do not want to be left out of the bio-tech trade. In Africa, South Africa, Egypt and Burkina Faso are already growing the crops on large scale," he said. Kari has already been carrying out trials on cotton and maize. In 2009, importers brought in thousands of tonnes of GM maize from South Africa, and did not declare it as required by the law.
