Post by Ismail AbdulAzeez on Jan 20, 2019 11:23:12 GMT 1
The Chief Executive Officer of National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) Dr. Rufus Ebegba at the Institutional Biosafety Committee workshop held in Abuja with the theme “Institutionalizing Biosafety Guidelines and Procedures for Production, Certification and Quality Control of GM Seeds”, highlighted the need for the public consciousness about biosafety.
He said safe and quality seeds can only be made available to farmers through the collaboration of relevant Agencies.
He also noted that after his Agency has certified the safety of some GM crops, the NASC is expected to certify and approve, after due diligence on the quality of the seeds, to grant permit for the seeds that meet national standards.
Dr. Ebegba acknowledged the roles of the other agencies, such as Custom Services and Quarantine services who are saddled with the responsibility of securing the bothers from infiltration of unsafe GMOs.
He explained that the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) has the mandate of all new variety of seeds in the country be it Genetically Modified or not.
“When new variety of seeds are coming into the country, NASC will alert the agency that we have this new verity. They must request the permit from such persons, so we are sure of the Safety of the seeds in the market.” He added.
He said they are looking forward to a situation where some Genetically Modified seeds will be coming into the market, hence the need to train NASC officials to know how they can identify, handle and assure the safety of seeds in the market.
“The NASC has the mandate of all new variety of seeds in the country and we are now looking at a situation where some Genetically Modified seeds will be coming into the market so they need to be properly equipped to know how they can handle this seeds to ensure that the best quality of such seeds are what would be sold to the Nigerian farmers.
In his contribution, the Director General of National Agricultural Seed Council, Dr Philip Ojo said“ we are using this One-day meeting to kick start deliberation on the issues at hand, sensitise and rejuvenate the NASC-IBC to stay alive to its role.
Dr Ojo also noted that same amount of investment in human capital development is also needed to regulate the output.
He said safe and quality seeds can only be made available to farmers through the collaboration of relevant Agencies.
He also noted that after his Agency has certified the safety of some GM crops, the NASC is expected to certify and approve, after due diligence on the quality of the seeds, to grant permit for the seeds that meet national standards.
Dr. Ebegba acknowledged the roles of the other agencies, such as Custom Services and Quarantine services who are saddled with the responsibility of securing the bothers from infiltration of unsafe GMOs.
He explained that the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) has the mandate of all new variety of seeds in the country be it Genetically Modified or not.
“When new variety of seeds are coming into the country, NASC will alert the agency that we have this new verity. They must request the permit from such persons, so we are sure of the Safety of the seeds in the market.” He added.
He said they are looking forward to a situation where some Genetically Modified seeds will be coming into the market, hence the need to train NASC officials to know how they can identify, handle and assure the safety of seeds in the market.
“The NASC has the mandate of all new variety of seeds in the country and we are now looking at a situation where some Genetically Modified seeds will be coming into the market so they need to be properly equipped to know how they can handle this seeds to ensure that the best quality of such seeds are what would be sold to the Nigerian farmers.
In his contribution, the Director General of National Agricultural Seed Council, Dr Philip Ojo said“ we are using this One-day meeting to kick start deliberation on the issues at hand, sensitise and rejuvenate the NASC-IBC to stay alive to its role.
Dr Ojo also noted that same amount of investment in human capital development is also needed to regulate the output.