Ethiopia is one of the biodiversity rich countries in the world. Its abundant wealth is vital not for it alone but also for the rest of the world.
Preserving plant and animal gene is also helpful to utilize the resource effectively.
It is common to use exogenous plants and animals’ for hybridizing indigenous ones. But such a venture at any cost should not court repercussion on the environment.
But some transgenic organisms are illegally entering into the nation through cross border trade and air transport which poses a threat on the environment, human and animal health.
Assefa Gudina is as a Director of Bio safety and Exegetic Organism Directorate in the Commission of Environment Forest and Climate Change.
As to him, the major responsibility of his Directorate is the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol to which the nation is signatory. The protocol stipulates that the importation, transportation and utilization of transgenic organisms must not compromise environmental safety, human and animal health and biodiversity at large.
To enforce the protocol the commission has introduced various laws and directives. In addition to this, it provides license to entities which show interest to import the technology, do experiment and conduct field trial. After scrutiny, it approves their successful accomplishments.
Currently, the only entity which applied to secure the license is the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute.
As to Assefa, the biotechnology work relies on scientific experiments and the occurrences of abnormalities’ might affect the environment and human and animal health. Hence, his institution will perform the technical work and examine the documents in collaboration with concerned stakeholders.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, the Institute of Environment and Forest Research, the Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute and the Department of the Addis Ababa University Biotechnology have a stake. The institutions will provide vital pieces of advice and recommendations.
Final decision will be made by the Commission. The rejection or provision of license application is also decided based on the recommendation provided by stakeholders.
After the provision of the importation, the special permit which serves for field trial will be provided. After the successful accomplishment of closed field trial, for dissemination of the product, another application for getting license will be forwarded. At this stage the document will be examined again.Finally the applicant will get the license.
To modernize and to raise agricultural productivity employing better technology including transgenic organism has been recommended by scientists. Asked to what extent the technology is applied in Ethiopia Assefa noted that, currently field trial for the application of BT cotton vital to resist pests, which harm, plants is underway.
The crop is imported from India and the license is provided to the EARI. In addition, license is also provided for field experimentation of BT maize, which is also vital to resist pests.
The experiment is underway in Bako and Melkassa Agricultural Research Institutions. After the final result, license, which serve for dissemination of the product, will be provided to the owner ie EARI.
But still the mandate for the final dissemination and confirmation whether the experiment is valid or not is left to the commission.
Neighboring countries such as Kenya and Sudan are the pioneering counties in introducing the utilization of both BT cotton and BT maize. The lengthy boundary areas make controlling things hard. As such, some transgenic crop might find their ways into Ethiopia.
Asked whether the government has the capacity to manage it, Assefa said that, “As to me, to date, sufficient work has not been done. Nevertheless, to restrict the transition in some selected border areas, seaports and air ports, in collaboration with stakeholders, some quarantine works are underway. To that effect, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is also signed.
Based on the Cartagena protocol when GMO products arrive at the airport they are supervised by Bio safety professionals. And right after that, the item will be stored in safe places. To avert some unwanted results during transporting pre-cautionary measures will be taken. And documents which have relevant information related to the imported items will be submitted to the commission.
During the field trial professionals will also go together to inspect the situation. After the harvest for the safety of the environment the waste products will be incinerated.
With regard to supervising imported and illegally smuggled GMO foods the mandate is given to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and it will deploy its professionals in selected quarantine sites.
When this happens, the necessary support will be provided by the commission.
Medicines that might have genetically modified organism will also be supervised by the Ministry of Health.
As it is understood countries are sovereign and the executive branch of each government has the mandate to make negotiations and agreement with other parties but to enforce the agreement there is a call for the endorsement of the council’s representatives.
Asked whether the Cartagena agreement is obligatory and in what modality it is enforced, Assefa noted that, the Environment Forest and Climate Change Commission works as a focal point for the implementation of Cartagena agreement. It also periodically sends report to the United Nations.
As mentioned above Ethiopia is rich in biodiversity. These resources can play crucial role is saving other countries’ genetic resources from extinction due to the spread of diseases and natural calamities. Decades ago the California-based brewery had faced crises due to shortage of barely of beer.
Farmers were unable to supply the raw material to the factories because the crop was on the verge of extinction subject to a devastating disease.
Scientists from the USA find their way to Northern Shewa, where they found the indigenous barely which has a gene having the capacity to resist disease. And this venture totally reversed the situation in the USA and the brewery assumed their normal production.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 2 February 2020
BY ABEBE WOLDE GIORGIS
