Capacity building in biosafety of GM crops
By Ijaz Ahmad Rao

Pakistan is a basically an agriculture country; this sector is contributing round about 25 percent to GDP, employing 50% of labor force, and earning a large share of foreign exchange earnings. Most of the population resides in rural areas and depends on agriculture for subsistence; therefore, a sustained increase in agricultural productivity through modern technology is vital for the prosperity of this region, particularly with the limited availability of water resources and extra arable land.

The Green Revolution ushered in the late 1960s has transformed some countries from a food-grain importer to a self-sufficient one. Unfortunately we have missed that bus; now our burgeoning population having already crossed the 150 millions mark, the achievements of the Green Revolution are unlikely to be sufficient. Common farm practices have damaged the cultivated land through water and wind erosion, compaction, salinization, and water logging. So we need technology like Crop Biotechnology to overcome the forthcoming challenges.

Plant biotechnology is helping today to provide people with more and better food and holds even greater promise for the future. Whether cotton farmers in China, India, America, Australia and South Africa, canola farmers in Canada, soybean farmers in Argentina or corn farmers in Spain and the United States, millions of farmers around the world are using biotech seeds to boost yields, improve their livelihoods and preserve the environment. Biotech crops can significantly alter the lives of these farmers; limiting the time they must spend in the field and helping alleviate poverty. That's why organizations including the United Nations, American Medical Association, International Society of African Scientists and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, have voiced their support for plant biotechnology.

Undoubtedly crops biotechnology presents considerable potential by boosting outputs, reducing production costs, increasing nutritional value and promoting the efficiency of agro-processing; in the meantime, as the impacts of biotechnology on human health and the environment remain unknown, Bio-safety has become a primary issue.

Considering the importance of capacity building to assess and manage the risks and benefits associated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs); in June a four-day national training workshop on "Capacity Building in Bio-safety of GM Crops: GMO Detection" jointly organized by National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at Faisalabad. The main purpose of this program was to assist public and private institutes in their efforts to harness the benefits of biotechnology in accordance with relevant global agreements like WTO and ensures safety in the introduction and use of genetically modified crops (GMCs) - based on transparent and scientifically based approaches; while also help to built confidence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), resource persons and stakeholders in crop biotechnology.

In his inaugural speech Dr Nobuyuki Kabaki, the chief technical adviser in biosafety framework from UN-FAO said that the world especially this region is facing challenges due to high population growth rate - which has exacerbated resources and is further complicating issues of poverty and food insecurity; so in such circumstances GM crops has significant potential for increasing food production and food quality; however, related to the safety of its consumers as well as about potential negative effects they might have on ecosystems need to consider as essential for sustainable agriculture and for maintaining agricultural biological diversity. During this session Dr Kauser Abdulla Malik, member, Biosciences and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) stated that Pakistan has attained necessary skills to grow GM crops but certain environmental and legal complications are major hurdles in switching over to these crops. However efforts are being made to approve the required bio-safety rules and regulations at the earliest.

One of the main reason for such a workshop is to recognize the need to establish mechanisms for assessing and managing the potential environmental risks associated with GM crops under the Cartagena Protocol on Biological Diversity (CBD); and to identify country-specific strengths and weaknesses relating to national capacities on the biosafety of GM crops, as well as to address the prioritization of the support needed to enhance biosafety capacities between CBD member countries and facilitate member countries to conduct trade activities according to biosafety framework. It is worth noting that Pakistan is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and signatory to the CBD and the Cartagena Protocol,which requires parties to cooperate in the development and strengthening of human resources and institutional capacities in biosafety in developing countries, particularly least developed countries such as Pakistan. Under WTO agreements members are bound by certain obligations that limit their right to restrict imports; which may contain GMOs or from GM crops.

Despite indigenously production of GM crops like Bt cotton and Bt rice so on, field evaluation is blocked due to the absence of legislation related to biosafety in Pakistan. Although a draft document was prepared in 1999 under the UNEP-GEF, The National Biosafety Guidelines, Plant Breeders Rights Act 2002; but unfortunately the development of biosafety regulations has been slow and largely incoherent. So, coordinated efforts are needed among various ministries like Environment, Trade & Commerce, Agriculture Food & Livestock so on, to implement regulations and capacity building for import/export and local handing of GM crops. It is worth mentioning here that it has been reported this year an illegal cultivation of non approved Bt cotton over the area of 100,000 acres in Sindh and some parts of Punjab; therefore due to lack of Biosafety regulations no one can predicts its possible outcomes on our health, environment and other crops. This could also seriously undermine the technology and disturb farmers' confidence, since these seeds are exotic and have not undergone any kind of regulatory trials. Their crossing with non-GM local varieties and multiplication could make them ineffective and disease prone.

Currently, Saudi Arabia and the European Union have asked Pakistan to start labeling its products especially agricultural, regardless whether it is GMO-free or not; otherwise Pakistan may lose agricultural exports amounting in millions per year to these countries.

On one hand such a training workshops are very helpful for our policy-makers, legislators traders, NGOs and farmers to communicate their concerns and learn future issues associated with GMOs under the WTO, CBD and the Cartagena Protocol, while on the other hand Pakistan could put on view its growing worldwide interest in the GMOs trade under WTO rules and regulations and gain benefits from the experiences of other countries.

In short, undoubtedly, there is strong desire and support at the farmers, researchers, traders and stakeholders' level for early adoption of crop biotechnology. It is also fathomable that designing a workable and transparent framework for bio-safety regulations have not been an easy task, the main challenge being creating an appropriate balance between potential benefits and risks; so arranging training workshop like "Capacity building in biosafety of GM crops" would boost public, consumer and investor confidence in GM related issues.


Courtesy: The Dawn