GM food, feed safety assessment a collective responsibility – Official
NAN-HG-5
Safety
By Ebere Agozie
Abuja, May 19, 2017 (NAN) Analyses of the safety assessment of Genetically Modified foods and feeds to be consumed in Nigeria is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders, an official, has said.
Dr Rufus Ebegba, the Director-General, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
The director-general said the analysis of the safety assessment process must provide answers to questions globally raised on GM Foods and feeds.
He said the agency was open to all stakeholders who were willing to work together with the agency to make sure that Nigeria would not become a dumping ground for GM foods.
“We recently organised a workshop that encouraged effective collaboration with other regulatory Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on GM foods and feed safety assessment.
“This is part of our effort to keep Nigerians abreast of laid down internationally accepted procedures for verification of GM foods and Feed Safety; and determine the future activities to build necessary capacity in the Nigeria biosafety regulatory system,’’ he said.
Ebegba said that stakeholders’ efforts should be geared towards working in synergy for the common interest of Nigerians.
“This will help us maintain the status of Food and Feed Safety Assessment Guidelines, and local and global regulatory data requirements for commercial products when adopting new GM technology.
“We have an excellent working relationship with, and Memorandums of Understanding with agencies like NAFDAC, SON, the Nigerian Customs Services, NABDA, ARCN, Ministries of Environment, Health and others.’’
He assured Nigerians that the country was safe and there was no cause for alarm as no unhealthy GM food would be allowed into the country.
“To date, all genes used in GM crops produce proteins that have history of safe use which have also been shown to be substantially equivalent to their conventional counterparts.
“And repeated dose studies with the GM crops have shown no changes compared to the conventional crops.
“Also dietary risk assessment has been carried out to determine any potential risks of GMOs at the maximum levels consumed,’’ he said.
He said that acute toxicity assessments were carried out to ensure safety of proteins used in genetic engineering.
“Studies till date have not revealed any toxicity of the proteins or bioaccumulation of GMOs in consumers over time.
“So NBMA is fully prepared and equipped to regulate the activities of modern biotechnology and ensure its safety,’’ the director-general said. (NAN)
EPA/MOL/MST
Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Muhammad Suleiman Tola