PRESS RELEASE: COMMERCIALIZATION OF 14 GENETICALLY MODIFIED EVENTS

The attention of the National Biosafety Authority has been drawn to some inaccurate media reportage about the NBA’s registration of 14 novel GM events in the country. While we appreciate the various concerns raised, the NBA wishes to state that the approved events are not for cultivation. They are for food, feed or processing. They have been registered to allow for importation by individuals or groups interested in them. Any entity interested will require an import permit from the NBA to import them for use in the country. Therefore, the NBA wishes to state categorically that those events or products have not been imported into the country for food, feed or processing yet. It is important to note that the NBA as the government agency responsible for regulating GM and its related products has laid down procedures in line with the Biosafety Act, 2011 (Act 831) and with international best practices in deciding on any application brought before it. The Authority therefore wishes to assure Ghanaians of the safety of GM product(s) that have received the NBA’s approval; notably the Bt Cowpea submitted by SARI and the fourteen (14) events submitted by Bayer West-Central Africa S.A and Syngenta South Africa which are intended for food, feed or for processing. Click to Download Press Release.