GM Foods Not Yet In Circulation in NigeriaNABDA

Prof. Lucy Ogbadu, the Director-General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) says there is currently no Genetically Modified (GM) food or product released for sale in the Nigerian market.Ogbadu made this known in a statement made available to newsmen by Mrs Ifeoma Ndefo, the Head, Communications and Protocol of NABDA, on Friday in Abuja.There are only four GM crops currently undergoing field trials in the country and they include the white black-eyed beans known as the Maruca-resistant cow pea (BT cow pea), she said.She said that others on field trials are the Africa bio-fortified Sorghum Nitrogen; Water Use Efficient and Salt Tolerant (NEWEST) rice; and the BT Cotton trial.She said that these trials were yet to be commercially released and placed on the market.This is in keeping with globally accepted regulatory standards on the release of GMOs for public use in any country of the world, she said.Ogbadu said that the National Biotechnology Management Agency (NBMA) is the body with the mandate to regulate and control the practice and deployment of the GM technology in the country.She said that is ensured that rigorous risk management procedures as stipulated by the Cartagena Protocol and other national and international protocols guiding the processes of GM technology were assiduously followed.The director-general noted that safety concerns were germane in any new technology adoption, especially when it had to do with food.She however said that the concerns raised in the past year were sponsored by anti-GM food crusaders.Ogbadu stressed that the cheap blackmail launched in the media by such groups would not deter the agency from ensuring that Nigerians benefited from safe and responsible application of agricultural biotechnology.Biotechnology remained one of the most viable solutions to food security and wealth creation for any nation desiring sustainable development and economic growth, the NABDA boss said.Ogbadu said that NABDA was established in Nov. 2001 following the approval of the Biotechnology Policy by the Federal Government.She said that the core mandate of the agency was to promote, coordinate and deploy cutting-edge biotechnology research, development, processes and products for the wellbeing of the nation. (NAN)
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