There have been a series of concerns from a section of Ghanaians regarding the recent approval of some 14 Genetically Modified (GM) products for us in Ghana.
The Ghana National Biosafety Authority (NBA), in late February, approved the commercialization of 14 new GM products, comprising eight maize and six soybean products.
This has generated heated discussions among a section of the Ghanaian public raising issues of safety concerns and the promotion of GM seeds in the country.
Mr Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), in a Citi News interview, criticized the government for lack of focus on vital interventions to enhance the agricultural industry but rather pushing for the commercialization of GM products in the country.
He questioned: “Why don’t we encourage organic agriculture which has more quality and better nutritional value than GMO?”
The Paramount Chief of Pulima Traditional Area in the Sissala West District, Kuoro Osman Deiwia Nankpa III, said during a PFJ 2.0 sensitisation forum in Wa on Monday, April 8, that: We are picking signals that the improved seeds that were given to farmers that saw this increment in the best produce (from the Sissala area) may be changed.
“…We are picking signals that the government is approving four Genetically Modified seeds in terms of Soya to be introduced from this farming season. Whether true or not, there are conspiracy theories that argue strongly against the introduction of genetically modified seeds”, he added.
But Mr Eric Okoree, the Chief Executive Officer of the NBA, said the NBA has approved 14 GM products not for cultivation in Ghana but for feed, food and processing.
The functions of the NBA
The NBA was established by the Biosafety Act No. 2 of 2009 to exercise general supervision and control over the transfer, handling and use of GMOs. GMOs are products of Modern Biotechnology that involve the manipulation of the genetic material of organisms through genetic engineering procedures.
The Authority was established to regulate research and commercial activities involving GMOs to ensure the safety of human and animal health and the provision of an adequate level of protection of the environment.
The Authority is mandated to establish a transparent science-based and predictable process to guide decision-making on applications for approval of research and commercial activities involving GMOs.
Approval of 14 GMOs
The 14 GM products, comprising eight (8) maize and six (6) soybean, approved by the NBA for use in Ghana are strictly for purposes of animal feed, food and processing contrary to the perceptions of people that it is for cultivation in Ghana.
That was after Bayer West-Central Africa S.A and Syngenta South Africa applied for registration of those products which are intended for food, feed or processing.
Mr Eric Amaning Okoree, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NBA, said the approval was given after the NBA did a risk assessment of the products and realized that all 14 products were safe.
“So we have registered them, the word is registered, they are not in the country, nobody has brought them in the country, we have registered them here as safe for food, feed and processing and not for planting, they are grains, they are not seeds”, Mr Okoree told the reporter in an interview.
“They have been registered in Ghana for food, feed and for processing. So that is what we have done. We have registered those things after doing risk assessment and finding that they are safe and also finding that they are being used or approved in about 15 countries all over the world and they have been eating them for over ten years”, the NBA CEO added.
Mr Okoree indicated that in case anybody or company in Ghana wants to import GM products into Ghana for any of the purposes for which they have been approved (for food, feed or processing) they need to get an import permit from the NBA.
“So that is the procedure, you take import permit from us, and then we look at what you are going to use it for, whether you are duly recognized in Ghana for that particular work, we will give you the import permit, you will import it, you will pay the necessary duties on it and you use it for that purpose”, he explained.
Legal tenets of approval
A statement issued by the NBA on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, signed by its CEO, Mr Eric Amaning Okoree, indicated that: “This approval was granted under Section 13 of the Biosafety Act, 2011 (Act 831) and Regulation 15 of the Biosafety (Management of Biotechnology) Regulations, 2019 (LI 2383) following the evaluation of data and information supplied by the applicant and a thorough risk assessment by the NBA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).”
Risk Assessment and Findings
The NBA said in the statement that having received the applications, the Authority conducted its risk assessment of the products to ascertain their safety before approving them.
It said the Authority evaluated the events in line with available data provided by the applicants and on the Biosafety Clearing House (BCH), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Biotrack Product Database and the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations genetically modified food platform to determine the under listed conditions:
a. Development of the modified events including the molecular biology data that characterize the genetic change,
b. proximate analysis; major constituents (fats, proteins, carbohydrates) and minor constituents (minerals and vitamins),
c. composition of, and nutritional information (including anti-nutrients) on the GM products compared to their conventional counterparts).
d. the potential for causing allergic reactions.
e. microbiological and chemical safety of the event(s)
f. the potential for the production of new toxins in the events(s), and. the potential for any unintended or secondary effects.
“The NBA wishes to state categorically that after a thorough risk assessment and evaluation, there were no adverse findings with any demonstrable history of biosafety concerns. For the record, countries like Argentina, Australia, Uruguay, Singapore, Thailand, USA and South
Africa among others have already given similar approvals and have confirmed the same to be as safe as their conventional counterparts”, the statement said.
The researcher produced this explainer as part of the requirements of the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Info Radio, Ghana.