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{
"id": 37365,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/37365/?format=api",
"text_counter": 180,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Sambili",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for East African Community",
"speaker": {
"id": 28,
"legal_name": "Hellen Jepkemoi Sambili",
"slug": "hellen-sambili"
},
"content": "3. The biosafety import/export and transit regulations. These regulations have been developed to govern the import into Kenya and the export out of Kenya and the transit through Kenya of GMOs. These regulations also detail the application procedures and requirements that must be made for import/export and transit of GMOs. This is the regulation that is very relevant now. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me assure this House and the public in general that the regulations have undergone a thorough and complete process of review by technical experts in biosafety/biotechnology drawn from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, the National Biosafety Authority, the National Council for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, key regulatory agencies, and the Attorney-General’s Chambers. The regulations were further subjected to a wide stakeholder consultation with representation from farmer organizations such as the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network, the Grain Millers Association of Kenya, the Cereal Traders Association, research institutions, institutions of higher learning or universities, NGOs, representatives of indigenous communities, Parliamentary Committees on Agriculture and Education, the press and media, AGMI/AU, NEPAD, and members of the public at large. The regulations have been cleared by the Attorney-General and approved by the hon. Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology. They were forwarded to the Attorney-General for publication on 18th July, 2011. The National Biosafety Authority is in the process of developing regulations to prescribe procedures for handling, packaging, and labeling GMOs. The process shall involve wide stakeholder consultations. It is important to note that the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has developed two standards, namely, the Kenya Standard 2182 of 2009 on the code of practice for handling, transfer and use of GMOs and derived products. They have also developed the KEBS 2225 of 2010 on GMOs and derived products, labeling of food and feed. These standards will be taken into account by the Authority in the development of the labeling regulations. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of capacity, I want to assure this House and the public in general that institutional, infrastructure, and human capacity exists in the Government and public institutions to regulate GMOs. Universities in Kenya have training programmes at various levels of undergraduate, Masters, and PhD in the area of molecular biology, genetic engineering and biotechnology which are the foundation sciences in the development of GMOs. These institutions include, the University of Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Egerton University, Kenyatta University and Moi University. I have not given the details of the programme. The other public institutions with capacity to analyse and test GMOs include the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) which is the regulatory agency responsible for biosafety in plants. It has the capacity to analyse and test for presence of GMOs. The plant health laboratories at KEPHIS are ISO Certified and are recognized as reference laboratories for genetic analysis by the COMESA regional body. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) has a fully fledged biotechnology centre that has---"
}