Kenya: Biosafety Law Required
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Nation (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
9 October 2008
Posted to the web 10 October 2008
Nairobi
Indications are that the Government may finally adopt the commercialisation of genetically engineered foods following years of antagonism between advocates and opponents of GMO technology.
Unfortunately, even with the prospect that the Biosafety Bill 2008 will be adopted, the two sides have not come any closer to finding a common ground. This is a major cause for concern.
The country urgently requires a biosafety law because already, Kenyans are consuming genetically-engineered products sold legally. One such is the dairy milk enhancing hormone, Bovine somatotropin or BST, which is readily available in local agrovet shops.
Presently, it is difficult to expect the opposing sides to rise above self-interests, one driven by transnational seed and supply companies, and the other comprising civil society with funding from interested groups.
At the moment, the Government has a draft Bill ready for presentation to Parliament. But members of the civil society say they have an alternative draft, which the State has largely ignored.
The Government, being the custodian of public good, should be willing to look at the alternative draft, and if necessary, come up with a hybrid policy.
The key to giving the country an effective regulatory structure lies in the Government's capacity to appoint an efficient, well-informed, forward-looking supervisory authority comprising people of integrity.
Relevant Links
The proposed legislation should protect Kenyans against taking irresponsible risks, and also ensure they are not turned into guinea pigs by multinational food conglomerates.
Read comments. Write your own.
|
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Make allAfrica.com your home page
|
RSS Feed
Sign up for FREE daily 'top headlines' by email >> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | My Account | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
