Govt to check dumping of biotech products
From Abosede Musari, Abuja
AS the debate on the use of biotechnology for better agricultural yields and the much-sought food security for Nigeria ranges on, the Federal Government says it would not allow the country to be made a dumping ground for hybrid products.
Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey, declared this yesterday at the Open Forum on Agriculture Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) organised by the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) in Abuja. Represented at the event by the Head of BioSafety Desk at the ministry, Usman Ademola Raheem, Odey, who acknowledged that biotechnology had several advantages, however identified certain issues that must be addressed for the safe deployment of biotechnology products, especially in agriculture and food production.
Odey said that though the technology had the potential to ensure food security for the nation, bio-safety issues must be considered in the interest of Nigerians.
His words: "Some of the products of biotechnology constitute risks to human health. The world is waiting to push their biotechnology products into Nigeria but the country will not be a dumping ground for such products. Biotechnology products that will be admitted into Nigeria must meet standards and regulations to ensure that our national interest is not compromised.
"Our decision is to ensure that the practice, process and procedures for modern biotechnology are undertaken within the provision of the regulatory system to guarantee safety. The regulation of modern biotechnology is to ensure safety along its potential to match better agriculture yields with food security and industrial growth."
Minister of Science and Technology, Alhassan Zaku, who was represented by Mr. Abayomi Oguntunde, however, assured on the safety of hybrid products and emphasised their benefits.
He explained that the technology came out of the need to modify the natural processes in plants and animals to induce certain desirable traits to boost food production in the face of rising global population and increasing demand for land use other than for farming.
He listed these to include improved ripening, early flowering, resistance to pests and diseases.
Zaku said: "The technology for these enhancements, like everything in life, may pose certain degree of risks to the environment and health. Managing these risks is an integral part of the entire technology of molecular improvement.
"We are not less concerned about the safety than the users of biotechnology products. Our ultimate goal is not to present an argument for biotechnology and its associated techniques but to present all the possibilities of biotechnology, including a rational evaluation of its supposed risks. We are cautious in our adoption of this wonder technology."
The minister said that government was placing emphasis on the minutest danger identifiable with the technology and that legislation and safety policies underlie the achievements so far recorded, especially in genetic engineering and associated techniques.
"Admittedly, these safety concerns have stalled our speed on the biotechnology track, especially in agriculture and medicine. However, they have given the inner peace and justification for accepting international biotech protocols. No matter how much we probe into biosafety issues, the appropriate way to go remains courageous acceptance of the technology of molecular-level modification of our food.
"Let us eschew the fear of a disaster or some kinds of threat from consuming our favourite food crops. Instead, decisions to make a rational and informed assessment of the outcomes associated with the new technologies will make us better beneficiaries and judges of them," he said.
In his address, the Director-General, NABDA, Prof. Bamidele Solomon, said efforts were being made to put laws and infrastructure in place to ensure practical evaluation of hypothetical risks associated with biotechnology products.
He said: "In practical terms, no technology is risk-free. The most any technology provider can do is to develop precautionary steps to enable safe deployment of a developed technique. We have consented to certain practices regarding safe application of biotechnology to agriculture and have also made contribution to the development of such practices."
A resource person, Mr. Matthew Dore, from Wild Life Preservation Trust in Benin City, Edo State, who dwelt on "Matching success with safety," said success in biotechnology should be measured by rising above current distractions in the debate and carrying through a programme that recognises the power of the technology, the tools embedded in it and come out with tangible results, while striving to ensure safety and addressing concerns raised by both the informed and uninformed.
