Kenya signs biosafety law
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Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has signed into law the biosafety Bill which has been pending since last December when Parliament passed it after years of discussions. The presidential action now allows regulatory authorities to draw up regulations that would be used to facilitate implementation of the Biosafety Act.

The eight government agencies, namely National Environment Management Authority, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the Kenya Plant Health Insepctorate Service, the Public Health, The Kenya Industrial Property Institute, the Directorate of Veterinary Service, the National Council for Science and Technology have been meeting since when the Bill was passed by Parliament in anticipation of the signing it into law.

Kenya is the most advanced country in East Africa in terms of GMO research, with crops engineered to be insect or virus-resistant already in the pipeline.Any biosafety law eventually adopted in Kenya should also help neighbouring countries optimise their own biotechnological practices.

Meanwhile, three countries in Africa now grow and use GM crops, this is according to the latest report on the global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops 2008. In 2008, Burkina Faso (Bt Cotton) and Egypt (Bt Maize) joined the exclusive clubs of countries growing and commercializing biotech crops.

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